Kingdom Hearts III: The War Against the Wise
by MauiWowieHawaii
Summary: Sora, Riku, and Kairi embark on a new adventure to save the worlds from a new enemy. Disclaimer: I own no Square Enix or Disney characters. Rated M for violence, language, sexual content, teen drinking, and drug use. R&R updated randomly.
1. Happy Birthday

He tried hard to fall back asleep before opening his eyes, but it was practically impossible. The strong Destiny Island sun shown too bright into the room, so the cyan windows to his soul fluttered open. His rough hands rubbed the sleep out of them as he sat up. He flinched as the deafening grandfather clock outside the door rang 10 times_. _The depths of his stomach rumbled to display his hunger as he recalled dinner wasn't one of his meals yesterday. His nose sniffed the air as he smelled the freshly cooked bacon and eggs. He reached for his shirt at the end of his bed and pulled it over his head, covering his toned chest. He swung his legs over to the end of his bed, stood up, and walked out of his bedroom. The carpet in his hallway felt soft on his callused feet as he walked towards the kitchen.

His aging father sat at the head of the mahogany breakfast table with the Destiny Island Tribute covering his face. It was obvious his mother had been slaving over the stove for an hour as she had done so every day since the teenager had returned. "Good morning, Sora," his mom said with a smile as she sat a plate stacked with bacon and eggs in front of him. "Happy birthday, sweetie." She moved the few hairs hanging down on his forehead and kissed it.

"Mom!" Sora exclaimed with a scowl. He noticed her disappointed frown, so he forced a sincere smile onto his face. "Thanks for the food, Mom. It looks delicious." He hugged her from his seat, knowing how sad she had been for the two years he was gone. Her soft arms squeezed his shoulders tightly before letting go. She sat down next to her husband and began eating breakfast.

"Happy birthday, son. You're one step closer to becoming a full-fledged man," his father said with a straight face as he put the newspaper down. "I saw your friend Wakka in the Sports Section today. He did very well last night winning that surf competition." Sora smiled at his dad through a mouth full of bacon as he spoke. Once the family finished eating, Sora and his father cleaned the dishes and his mother left the room.

She returned with a brand new surfboard in her arms. It was shining white with a single crimson red stripe running down the middle of it. Surfing had always been a passion of Sora's since it was such a huge event on Destiny Island. Before the darkness had whisked him away, Sora's surfboard had snapped in half. "Thanks you guys," he said to his parents as his mother handed him the smooth board. She hugged him once again, weaving her hands firmly into his brunette hair.

After she released her grip, Sora walked back to his room. He proceeded to remove all his clothing and dawn his dark blue plaid swim trunks. His backpack was already packed with two shirts, shorts, boxers, and a sleeping bag for the night on the beach. He swung it over his bare, tan back and grabbed his crown chain. As he put it on, the doorbell rang. He picked up his new board and walked to the front door, opening it. He saw the familiar face of Riku, standing at least three inches taller than him. The silver haired seventeen year old was wearing yellow swim trunks and holding his green board. He was more toned than Sora, but the younger one was catching up. His jade eyes gazed down at Sora as he smiled.

"Happy birthday, man," Riku said, his grin getting wider. "Are you ready?" Sora nodded, and then went to say goodbye to his parents. Once he returned, the two began the short walk to the docks. Their sandals protected their feet from the hot concrete as they made their way there; speaking about how great the weather was for surfing.

Wakka and Tidus were already sitting in Wakka's motorboat with their boards in their hands when Riku and Sora reached the docks. "Wow, nice board!" Wakka marveled at Sora's birthday present as the two teenagers sat down in the boat.

"Where's Kairi?" Sora wondered aloud as he noticed her boat was gone. She had texted him happy birthday last night at midnight, so it only made sense that she would've wanted to be one of the first to wish him happy birthday in real life.

"The girls headed out to the island about an hour ago, bra," Wakka explained as he started his boat up. "Something about catching some rays." He steered the boat out of the docks and into the open ocean.

"Maybe Kairi will give you sixteen kisses for your birthday," Tidus said with a laugh. Sora's cheek immediately changed from tan to pink as he blushed. He still hadn't admitted his feelings for her, even though he had tried several times over the past three months. Every time he had changed his mind about telling her how he really felt. It always came out as "You're the best friend ever" or "I hope we'll be friends forever" instead of "You're the most beautiful girl ever" or "I hope we'll be together forever."

"Sora, you should just kiss her. I know you have a lot of trouble verbalizing your feelings, so maybe it will be easier for you," Riku said into Sora's ear. Sora thought over this, and nodded at Riku. He would at least try.

Before he knew it, Wakka was tying up his boat next to Kairi's on the island. The four boys stepped off the dock and into the warm, soft sand. Two bodies were visible lying on the beach about fifty yards away. Wakka and Riku kicked off their shoes and ran to the water while Sora and Tidus strode towards the girls.

Even though Selphie had a very nice body, all Sora saw was Kairi. She was lying on her stomach, the sun making her pale skin glow. Her red hair was pushed over her shoulder to reveal her beautiful back to the light. The purple bikini that covered the best parts of her body was untied in the back to avoid tan lines. Everything about her made him sweat, from the crook of her shoulder blades to the small of her back.

Sora looked away as Tidus fell into the sand next to Selphie. "Good morning, ladies!" He shouted as he poured sand onto her stomach. Selphie pushed him away from her as she glared.

"Fuck off, Tidus!" She yelled as she sat up, throwing a handful of sand at his face. He turned away just in time, and then stood up. He wrapped both his arms around her waist and lifted her up over his shoulders. She punched his back over and over again as he carried her to the water. Her body splashed into the ocean once he threw her in, then he dove in with her.

"Hi Sora." The brunette looked away from the spectacle to rest his eyes on Kairi. She was sitting up and facing him, her perfect lips smiling. She pushed her body up to stand, then threw her arms tightly around his shoulders. "Happy birthday." He felt her warm breath on his ear as she spoke. He stuck his board into the sand so he could wrap both arms around her tiny waist. Her whole body pressed against him for only a moment, because she soon pulled away. Sora felt his cheeks grow hot and he looked away so she wouldn't see his blush. "Hey, I helped your mom pick that out!" Kairi said as she pointed at the board.

Sora faced her once again when his blush disappeared. "Really?" He raised his eyebrow as he asked. She nodded with that lovely smile on her mouth. She pulled her pink board out of the sand, and gestured towards the water. Sora grinned as he nodded, but before he knew it Kairi was racing towards the water. He quickly followed her, and the water splashed against their bodies as they entered the sea. The drops of water reflected the sun off of her body, making her shine in the light. Both of them laid down on their boards and began paddling out to sea.


	2. First Kiss

The warm fresh water spilled over Kairi's pale body, washing the smell of salt off her skin. The wood floor of the shower stall was soaking wet and spotted with soap bubbles. After washing the conditioner out of her hair, the red head pulled the chain of the showerhead and pulled the curtain back. Selphie was leaning over the sink and putting her makeup on, waving her hips to Drake as his voice blasted through her boom box. Kairi grabbed her bra and underwear out of her backpack, they were black and lacy. As she saw her best friend's reflection in the mirror, Selphie wolf whistled. "Someone's looking sexy tonight!" She exclaimed through her laughs. Kairi briefly stuck her middle finger up without looking away from her backpack. A black fitted t-shirt and a floral high wasted skirt lay at the bottom, and she pulled them out forcefully, too lazy to take her soaking towel out.

"Do I look ok?" she asked Selphie as she finished putting on her clothes. Selphie gave a thumbs up before moving aside, leaving a space for Kairi to do her makeup. The princess almost slid across the floor as she relocated to the sink, cosmetics bag in hand. Usually her face barely had any makeup on it, but tonight was different. She used the works, foundation and powder to hide the few flaws on her face, blush to accentuate her already rosy cheeks, blue eye shadow to match the flowers on her skirt, and eyeliner and mascara to make her normally bright eyes livelier. Her cherry hair waved lightly as the island air dried it, even though she usually straightened it until her ends split. Her demeanor looked effortless, just as she wanted. Kairi was in no way conceited, but she felt radiant tonight. Her and Selphie slipped their manicured toes into their sandals and walked out of the bathroom.

The table under the gazebo was filled with Tidus' world famous barbeque, including ribs and corn on the cob. Wakka and Tidus sat on one bench of the stolen picnic table, Riku and Sora on the other. They all looked up as the girls approached. "Took you long enough," Wakka scoffed. "We're practically starving to death." Selphie sat next to her boyfriend and kissed the blonde on the cheek.

"Looks great, baby," she said to Tidus as he grinned ear to ear. She then looked at the still standing Kairi. "Sit the fuck down so we can eat," She ordered, almost seriously. Riku scooted down the bench to make room for the redhead between him and Sora. She flashed a small smile as she sat down, making sure to place the edge of skirt under her thighs so no wardrobe malfunctions would take place. She then looked at Sora, who was practically burning a hole through her as he stared. He quickly looked away, trying to hide his amazement. His gaze drifted back to the table, and it met everyone's waiting eyes. Oh, they were expecting him to eat first.

"Sorry," he laughed nervously. He picked up the plate of ribs and slapped a slab onto his plate, and buttered up a piece of corn. Wakka anxiously grabbed the ribs as soon as Sora sent them down, and the battle for food began. The birthday boy was glad he got to go first, because by the time everyone had gotten food, the plates were empty. The hungry teens stuffed their faces with food, and the only sounds were the smacking of lips.

After about ten minutes of eating, everyone pushed their empty plates forward, and sat back with full bellies. "Thanks for cooking, Tidus. You're the best barbequer ever," Sora stated as he smiled at the other sixteen year old. The blonde nodded in appreciation with a smug smirk on his jaw.

"I don't mean to brag, but I have to agree," the blonde boasted, overconfidently. Wakka rolled his walnut eyes at him.

"The only reason you're good at cooking is because of your job," the Jamaican said with a scoff. He was referring to Tidus' occupation as a cook at the local café, the Tropica Grill. He had perfected his barbeque skills there, since the Tropica was not without greased covered grills and fryers that were starting to resemble caverns on the inside. It was so greasy that Selphie refused to even hold Tidus' hand after he got off work until he took a thirty minute shower.

"Don't be a hater," Selphie said in defense of her boyfriend. She gave Wakka a light push, causing him to bob backwards like a buoy on the ocean. He stuck his tongue out at her, and she did the same.

"Dessert time!" Riku exclaimed as he stood up, walking towards the mini fridge. Kairi worriedly looked over at him, hoping he had not made a cake. Instead, Riku returned to the table with two six packs of Coronas in his hands. He handed one to each teen, and took the last. "Like this," he said as he demonstrated how to open a beer bottle. The lesson failed, and he had to open everyone's but Wakka's. The beer felt like ice as he raised it high above everyone's heads. "To Sora." He looked down at his best friend, his ocean eyes gazing back at him.

Everyone else stood up besides the brunette, and clanked their bottles with Riku's. "To Sora!" Their voices echoed off the hills of the island and faded away into the sound of the waves. Sora stood up and clinked his bottle with the five others, and drew it quickly to his lips. Even though it was ice cold, the first taste of beer burned the sides of his throat. The feeling faded away after a moment, and the liquid sailed smoothly down to his stomach. He stopped gulping and sat the half empty bottle back on the table.

"Gross!" Selphie's face looked as if she had just eaten a worm. She slammed her beer on the table, and the liquid sloshed out onto to the old wood. "Beer tastes like shit," she said with a sour looking face. The boys laughed, but Kairi nodded in agreement. "You can have mine," Selphie said to Tidus. "Now it's time for _real_ dessert." She and Kairi disappeared behind the mini bar for a moment, but then returned with a small cooler. Kairi pulled a white box out, and took off the lid. Inside was a round cake, depicting a beach with a single huge palm tree. In the sky, 'Happy Birthday, Sora!' was written in Kairi's girly hand writing.

"Thanks!" Sora smiled at both girls. Selphie looked at him with disappointing eyes.

"Don't look at me," she said with a scoff. "Kairi made it all. She just used my box." The redhead blushed a deep pink, and looked at the ground. Selphie had promised she would say that she had participated in the cake making.

"Thanks, Kai. It looks delicious," she heard Sora say. She looked up to see his gorgeous eyes gazing down at her. She smiled, and turned to cut the cake into six pieces. She handed Sora a piece, blushing once again as their hands touched. Everyone else took their own, and walked towards the fire pit they had set up earlier in the middle of the beach. That left Sora and Kairi standing alone in the brightly lit gazebo. The brunette took a bite of the vanilla cake. "Yummy," he said through a mouthful of dessert.

Kairi giggled at him. Ever since the first day they met, he had been making her laugh. She had been so unbelievably happy when he and Riku had crashed down into the sea three months ago that the high had lasted her until tonight. True, she had missed Riku, but her heart felt completely empty without Sora.

"Hey, we should go look at the stars." Her thoughts were interrupted by his honey voice, and she focused back on him. His shy smile brought pink back into her face.

"Uhh, okay," Kairi said quietly. Sora held out his hand, and she grabbed it. It was rough from holding the keyblade, but it had begun to return to his baby smooth skin he had two years ago. They began to walk along the beach, the lukewarm sand invading Kairi's sandals and rubbing against her skin. The beach was beautiful, as always. The stars glittered on the ocean and the moon was bright enough to light the island. Riku and Wakka's fire's light danced across the sand, and Wakka had begun to play his guitar, serenading the seagulls with his native music.

The ballad faded away as they trekked down the path to the other side of the island. The tiki torches became more scattered and the grass intruded more onto the path the farther they traveled. The cliff used to be where the boys sparred, but Sora and Riku were sick of fighting after two years. Now, no one even went over there. The days were spent on their long missed surf or skate boards, or just laughing in the sand. No time would be wasted sparring or with "friendly" competition. They cherished every moment, they haven't had a normal day for a long time, and it never bored them.

Before she knew, Sora let go of Kairi's hand as they reached the cliff. The moon wasn't outshining the stars over here, so they looked ten times brighter. It was much darker though. The grass appeared pine green instead of the spring green it would've looked in the sun. Sora set in the grass, and gently pulled Kairi down with him. She saved herself from falling on her leg, and landed safely on the ground. She looked into Sora's eyes. They were set on the sky. "Look at Orion, it's so remarkable," he said in admiration. He had gazed at the constellation every time he had the chance to during his time away from home. It had reminded him of the island, of Kairi, of Riku.

A long time ago, the three of them had been lying in the grass, almost exactly in this spot, and had their eyes lain on the stars. Riku and Sora were pointing out constellations, and Sora had named Orion. Kairi had said it was her favorite one, and Riku agreed. Riku then told the legend of the hunter, and Sora said one day they would all be like him, a hero forever remembered. That night had stuck in his mind for a very long time, because they were all heroes now, but he wasn't sure he wanted to be anymore.

His mind returned to reality as he looked down at Kairi looking up at him. Her sunset eyes reflected the night sky, and he wanted to melt. He thought about kissing her that moment, but he felt that stab of nervousness enter his soul. "Soo…." He hoped she would start a conversation, so they wouldn't be sitting awkwardly in the grass.

"I had the strangest dream last night," Kairi said up to him, with a sweet smile on her face. He gave her his questioning look, with one of his eyebrows raised.

"About what?" he inquired. Sora always considered dreams to be a very important part of a person's mind. They could tell you things about yourself that you never knew.

"Well, I was in Twilight Town, I think. And Roxas was there. We were talking in this room full of drawings, but I don't really remember what he was saying, like it wasn't important. All I could focus on was his eyes and his face and the way his lips moved when he talked. Before I knew it, I was moving closer and closer to him and I kissed him," Kairi explained. Sora's eyes got wide, and he felt jealousy creep into his emotions. Kairi laughed, "But then I was at the door, and it was Namine kissing Roxas. Not me. It was like she was in control of my subconscious. Does that happen to you? With Roxas, I mean?"

Sora was so relieved that she didn't kiss Roxas in her dream that he almost didn't realize she had asked him a question. After a moment, he answered, "Uhh, I have a lot of dreams about Axel, but not like yours. They're like, just us hanging out. And I don't know if it's me, or Roxas. And sometimes, when I have dreams about you, I can't tell if it's you or Namine. But I think the Namine part is Roxas. He misses her, and I can feel it. It's pretty strange, actually."

Kairi seemed taking aback. "You have dreams about me?" she queried. "What kind of dreams?"

Sora was very reluctant to tell her about his dirty dreams of watching her strip for him and her straddling him and his tongue all over her, so he chose a different route. "Like this," he said shortly, and crashed his lips onto hers. Her mouth was soft, but she didn't pucker against him. He pulled back immediately. "Sorry," he said quietly, averting his gaze to the grass.

The redhead was shocked. She didn't really have any idea that Sora liked her in return. She remembered the first time they had kissed, when they were twelve. In the playground at the elementary school, while Tidus was collecting his little sister. Sora had apologized immediately, just like now. He had told her just to forget about it, and that he didn't want to lose her as a friend. Even though she had cherished that one moment, until tonight. Tonight was better, more romantic. The stars lit up his face, it was his birthday, and everything was perfect. She grabbed the side of his face and pulled it down to hers, and pressed her lips against his. He pushed against hers, returning the same amount of force. Their lips moved together like a practiced dance, but he was not daring enough to use his tongue. Not tonight. Almost too soon, Kairi pulled away. "Don't ever apologize for that again!" she said with that same sweet smile.

Sora's face was a mixture of elation, astonishment, and embarrassment. "I…I won't," he promised, shocked at the thought that she wanted to kiss him again. Hopefully sometime soon, because that had been one of the best moments in his life. He turned instinctively at the sound of someone moving behind him, and saw Riku approaching the two. He took a seat beside Sora in the grass, and looked at the stars. Sora searched his face for signs that he had witnessed their kiss, but he gave away no emotions, just peace.

"The stars are so amazing here," Riku observed as he rested his toned arm on his knee. "Better than any other world. Right, Sora?" He turned to look at the younger boy, and raised his eyebrow at his flushed face.

Sora nodded silently. He looked at Kairi as she began to speak. "Did you know, Riku?"

"Know what?" Riku looked behind Sora at the redhead, puzzled.

"That Sora liked me," she responded, giving him an "evil" gaze around Sora's back.

"Yeah, and so did everyone else, besides you," Riku said, returning her with an equally hilarious gaze. "Why, did he tell you?"

"We kissed!" Sora spat out, staring at the ocean ahead of him. Riku gave him a concerned look.

"Oh, so terrible. Probably going to hell for that one, Sora," Riku joked.

"Shut up, Riku," Kairi scolded. She then fell into the grass with a gasp, and grabbed Sora's arm. "It was wonderful."

Sora and Riku both looked back at her, and gave her two different smiles. Sora's was a grin of love, and compassion, and pure bliss, and Riku's was one of "finally I don't have to deal with the tons of sexual tension between these two everyday". "We should go back," the silverette said, and abruptly stood up. He held out his arm to help Sora up, and he grabbed it, lifting himself and Kairi up in one motion. As they began to trek the path, Kairi's smooth hand wrapped itself up in his. Unlike the walk there, this was a different type of hand holding. And it made his smile even wider.

Back on the beach, Wakka, Tidus, and Selphie were laying out their sleeping bags. The fire had been put out, but a few embers still shown in the night. Kairi went to change into her pajamas, but Riku and Sora could easily sleep in their shorts and t-shirts. Not Riku, though. He threw off his shirt and crawled into his sleeping bag.

"Always using every chance to take your shirt off, 'ey?" Tidus asked as he and Selphie crawled into his sleeping bag.

"Shut the fuck up," Riku said unemotionally. "You're just jellin'."

Tidus scoffed, and cuddled up to Selphie without responding. "He's not jealous. You have bigger boobs than me!" Selphie laughed as she laid her head on Tidus' chest.

"They're called pecks, and ten year old boys have bigger boobs than you," Riku glared at her before rolling over. She ignored the comment, even though she wanted to punch him in the face.

"Good night, everybody," Sora was trying to change the tense air. "Thanks for the awesome birthday." Everybody said their good nights, and it was soon silent. Kairi's footsteps through the sand interrupted the quiet air, and Sora opened his eyes, sensing her presence over him. The sight of her in a tight fitted tank top and shorts lead his mind to dirty thoughts, but he overcame his brain and looked into her eyes.

"Can I sleep with you?" Kairi asked, the darkness hiding her blush, "I forgot my sleeping bag." Sora's eyebrows rose in confusion, but he soon agreed to her request. She crawled into his sleeping bag, intertwining her legs with his and putting her arms on his chest. His arms wrapped around her almost naturally, and her head tilted up to give him a quick peck. "Good night," she whispered, making his spine tingle.

"Night," he murmured back. It was not long before the two of them drifted into sleep. The nightmares that had plagued Sora's slumber for years were not present that night. He knew Kairi was safe in his arms, so they had no reason to be there.


	3. Bowling

Sora woke up to the sound of moving feet on his instincts. The sky was still dark, but instead of the midnight blue he had gazed upon the night before, it was a dark grey, and the coming sun's rays were reflected on the hazy clouds. Kairi was still gently sleeping next to him, and before he could look to see who was the cause of the noise, Riku was right above him, shaking him from a pretend sleep. "Wake up, bro," he whispered as not to wake Kairi. "You've got work."

Sora had begun working at Wakka's dad's surf shop last month after school had ended. It was easy; all he did was goof around with Wakka all day. They were responsible for renting out surf boards and serving soft serve ice cream to the throngs of people that littered North Beach every day. He thought it was the greatest thing, because along with one of his best friend's being his manager, Riku worked as a life guard on the beach, and chatted with the two of them during his hourly breaks.

He slipped slowly out of the sleeping bag and ran to the bathroom to change. Wakka had already prepared his boat, and when Sora got to the dock, the three other boys were sitting in it rubbing their tired eyes. "Do you think the girls will be okay without us here?" Sora asked, hesitating before boarding the boat.

"Uhh, no, because they don't know how to take care of themselves," Tidus said sarcastically. "Get your ass on the boat, Sora. No one even knows about this place." Riku pulled the tired Sora into the vessel, and Wakka turned on his engine, speeding away from the island.

"Soooo…." Wakka began with that casual smirk forming on his face. "Sleeping with princess, huh, Sora?" The others looked at the brunette and a rosy tint formed across his face.

"She forgot her sleeping bag," he said, nervously rubbing his shoulder blade.

"Bullshit! I saw her put in her backpack last night," Tidus laughed. "Someone wants to ride the Sora-coaster." He punched Sora on the shoulder in the friendliest of ways possible, and Riku and Wakka rolled their eyes.

"I don't think so," Sora sighed, but not in disappointment. "I mean, we just kissed last night. I don't even think we're dating, or anything." He looked at Riku as to ask for advice, and Riku raised his eyebrows.

"Today's going to suck," Riku changed the subject. After a question of why from Wakka, he explained. "I'm supposed to go to the Lighthouse with Jemini at seven, but she's not worth that shit. I think she wants me to ask her out." He looked slightly sad. Riku had a very confusing, depressing love life.

Before the darkness had swallowed him up, Riku had been in the most serious relationship you could be in at the age of 15. Her name was Ciciline, but everyone just called her CiCi. She had been one of the prettiest girls in Riku's grade, and they had been dating for a few months. They had lost their virginities to each other on the last day of freshmen year. But, the inevitable happened, and Riku was gone for two years. CiCi didn't wait around. She started another relationship with a fellow Blitzball teammate, Wess. The guy was a total douchebag in all senses, but somehow girls saw past it and thought he was super attractive. When Riku returned a few months ago, he had understood how CiCi probably thought he was long gone. But she dropped Wess and started her and Riku's relationship up again.

This would have been all fine and dandy, if she had not secretly continued her sexual relationship with Wess. Riku found out that someone had seen them all over each other in a secluded park, and that ended it with a lot of hurt feelings. One thing Riku would not tolerate was a cheater. The next girl, Mari, was your run of the mill slut. Riku did her in the back of his Jeep on their first date in the parking lot of the movie theater, much to the entertainment of the town's gossipers. Their sexual relations lasted for about a week, but she moved onto the next guy and left Riku in the dust without any explanation. Not that he cared.

Then there was Taio. She was actually a very nice girl. She was easy to be around, not annoying or overly girly. She didn't give it up as easily as Mari, Riku had to wait for 3 weeks to get in her pants. Sora had sworn his best friend had actually liked her, but when Taio wanted to be "official," Riku ended it, saying he wasn't ready for anything serious. Taio seemed really depressed for a few weeks, but she found love with another Blitzball player, Kalani. Sora had searched Riku's face for any signs of jealousy, but he obviously didn't even take notice.

Now it was Jemini. Or even more stupidly, Jem. She was also your run of the mill slut, but Riku didn't even have to take her out on any dates to get inside her. He woke up in her room after a party at her house, the same one where Wakka had woken up naked on pool float. That was about two weeks ago. Jem was on the DIHS cheerleading team, along with Kairi and Selphie and many other girls, like CiCi and Mari. Not to mention that Riku was in line to be captain of the Blitzball team. Everyone thought he and Jem belonged together like some dumb 80's movie, because he was captain and she was head cheerleader. But you could tell Riku hated her stuck up little guts. He just liked the sex, that was it.

Also, Sora knew about some mysterious girl that Riku had engaged with once in his two year adventure. So that was five; five more than Sora, one other thing Riku was better at.

Before he knew, they had reached the docks of the main island. Riku, Wakka, and Sora ran to the beach while Tidus went to the Tropica for the morning shift. At first, it was slow, just the diehard surfers needing wax or the sweaty runner coughing up munny for a much needed water bottle. Then it hit 10 A.M. The females put out their towels to soak up the hot sun into their already tan skin, and the partiers waking up from last night deciding to swim to maybe defer their hangover.

Riku had clearly falling asleep in his lifeguard tower, but his aviators covered his closed eyes. The three hour late Jemini approached the tower, and pulled on her lover's hand. "You clocked in for me, right?" She asked with a sneer, prepared to rip his throat out if he hadn't.

"Yeah, of course, babe," Riku said, climbing down from the tower. Jemini gave him a raised eyebrow.

"Uh, what are you doing?"

"Uh…Going on break?" He walked away before she could say anything else. When he reached the surf shop's counter, he saw that Sora and Wakka were indulging themselves in nachos with machine cheese and sliced up jalapenos. He reached over for a chip, but Wakka swatted his hand away.

"Hey! Free food is only for surf shop employees," the Jamaican said with a glaring look on his face. Riku snatched the rest of the nachos from Sora's hands, and smiled at Wakka. He dropped the glare and returned the smile. "How's Queen Bitch over there? Get enough beauty sleep?"

"'You clocked in for me, right?'" Riku imitated her whiny voice almost perfectly. "If she wasn't so goddamn sexy, I would have got rid of her on Day One." Riku was right, Jem was sexy. She had long, flowing tan blonde hair that ended right before her perfect ass. Her skin was perfectly tanned, and she looked like she worked out every day. Even dressed in her modest lifeguard attire, she looked like a beach goddess. Her face was perfect, with no acne and a slim cheek and chin structure. Her amber eyes looked so endless when Riku stared seductively into them during the act.

"Brah, there's so many sexy ladies that aren't cunts like her," Wakka explained. "I mean, they might not be as freaky, but still...That bitch don't deserve you." Sora nodded in agreement.

Riku looked at his beauty sitting in that high chair, and then back at his two friends. A light bulb went off in his head. "Sora!" he exclaimed, his turquoise eyes getting brighter.

"Riku!" Sora returned the exclamation very sarcastically. He peered at his best friend, wondering what crazy idea he had just thought of.

"I have the best idea ever," the silverette started to explain. "So you know how Jem thinks we're going to the Lighthouse right? Well, I'm going to tell her that we can't, because we are going to double date with you and Kai tonight, because your ass is nervous or some shit. And no one takes a lady to the Lighthouse on the first date, that's too cliché. So then, we'll go somewhere cheap, and fun, and I don't have to wear slacks and one of those fucking shirts with buttons on it. What'd you think?"

"That would be a good idea, but I can't just ask Kairi over texting," Sora said. "Plus, where would we go?"

"Uh Kairi and Selphie are sure to come around whenever they wake up," Riku responded. "Tonight's Saturday, so they have Cosmic Bowling. Eight dollars a head?"

Sora put his hand on his forehead, pretending to be in deep thought. "I'll go if…" he began. "You pay for me and Kairi."

"Uhh no? That's like…" Riku did the math in his head. "Thirty two munny, plus food for me and Jem, so that would be like fifty. Might as well just go to the Lighthouse. And how weird would that be if I paid for you and Kairi's first date? Fucking bizarre, if you ask me."

"Fine, but you owe me one," Sora finally agreed. "Jemini annoys the fuck out of me."

"That makes two of us," Riku said before walking back to the lifeguard stand.

Kairi and Selphie did show up, around two. Sora shyly asked her to the bowling alley, and she bashfully agreed. Jemini did flip shit when Riku explained the situation of Sora's nervousness to her, but she got over it and agreed, because she "likes the music that they play."

After Sora and Riku and Wakka closed up at five, they walked to their neighborhood and took their homes to get ready for their nights. Riku washed the smell of sea salt and sweat off of his body in the warm water of his shower. He chose a plain white shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans for the date, thanking God he could leave the slacks in the closet. He said good bye to his parents, who were preparing to go out, and hopped into his Jeep. She was a beaut: deep turquoise, no roof, brand new subs, the works. Sora's house was just down the street, and when he pulled up in the driveway, the brunette walked out the door in a Billabong shirt and khaki shorts. He slipped into the passenger seat.

"What's up?" Sea foam eyes met deep ocean ones for the millionth time as Riku backed out and began to drive down the street.

Sora shrugged. "I'm so nervous."

Riku took his eyes off the road to give his best friend a questioning look. "Uh, why? It's not like you and Kairi don't know each other at all."

"What if it's all awkward?"

"Dude, I know you're worried that you're going to 'ruin your friendship', but that's a bunch of bullshit," Riku clarified. "Kairi likes you too. I promise."

It took driving all across Destiny Island to reach Kairi's and Jemini's neighborhood. The town wasn't humongous; about 50,000 people occupied it, there was a "downtown" area, a mall, the whole shebang. No skyscrapers though, the "club" that the older kids went to was really a sports bar, and everyone knew pretty much everyone. Riku hadn't remembered meeting someone new for a long time. Yeah, there were the kids from the surrounding islands, but their lives consisted of cow raising and vegetable picking.

Kairi and Jemini were a lot richer than Sora and Riku. Not that they were poor, but Kairi and Jemini belonged to high class, political familes. Kairi's dad, Dono Nao, did not become a dictator and take over the mayor position. He let someone else win to spend more time with his family, and now held the job as the head of City Council. Jemini's dad was the current Police Commissioner, and her fancy house had held many parties, both illegal and not. It was kind of nice to party at the Police Commissioner's house, because you knew that it would never get busted.

The wrought iron gates opened without a squeak, and Riku's jeep rolled down the smooth street. He pulled up to Jemini's stone driveway, and texted her a simple "here." When the front door opened, it was like a model walked out. She was completely overdressed, wearing a navy skirt and a lacy, white Hollister tank top. Her dark blonde hair was perfectly curled. As she approached the passenger side, she gave Sora a death glare. "I suggest you move, Irino," she said with a laugh. "Shotgun is _my _spot."

Sora complied, not wanting to deal with her shit. He hated when anyone called him by his last name, it reminded him of Coach. He boarded the vehicle again into the back seat, and Jem hopped her oh-so-perfect ass up into the front.

"What are we doing afterwards?" Jem leaned over the console to get closer to Riku. She started touching his arm, and his thighs, and Sora decided to gaze out the window at the perfectly trimmed hedges and trees.

"Oh you know," Riku said as pulled up into Kairi's driveway. Kairi was standing outside talking to her brother, Zoki. He was tall, and had messy chestnut hair. Caede, Riku's older sister, was Zoki's longtime girlfriend, much too Riku's dismay. He thought the 21 year old was a total tool, and Caede could probably find someone who hadn't hit his head playing Bitzball one too many times.

Kairi was the picture of beauty in Sora's eyes. Even though Jemini might be a lot prettier in society's eyes, she didn't even measure to the princess. Her raspberry hair shown in the island sun. The white denim shorts she wore made her creamy legs appear tanner, and her cheetah printed shirt fell off her shoulders while she talked with her hands. It wasn't obvious what the siblings were talking about, but they were arguing. Zoki scoffed at her and stormed inside, and Kairi's sunset eyes rolled. She spotted Riku in her drive, and she waved as she approached. She hopped in the backseat with Sora, and looked around at the crowd. "Oh my gosh, he pisses me off. Let's go," she said with a scowl.

"What's wrong?" Sora asked with a concern look as Riku drove down the street.

"He thinks it's 'inappropriate' that I camped out last night, since guys were there. And I was like, 'I don't give a shit what you think, Dad let me do it.'" She explained. "He just acts like my dad, and he and Caede were fucking when they were like fifteen, so I don't see what the big deal is."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Riku yelled as he looked back at her with a scowl. "My sister is a virgin."

"Okay, Riku, whatever you say," Kairi said with a giggle.

Sora chortled at the both of them. "He's just trying to protect you, Kai, just like Riku likes to protect Caede. It's just, he's your older brother, it's his job."

"It's whatever. Did you bring your bowling shoes?" Kairi grinned goofily at Sora, and he shook his head, asking her if she brought hers. "No, I'm just bowling in my socks." She showed off her new grey and pink Nikes, and her little white socks.

Riku looked at Jem's sandaled feet. While he did admire her shoe style, it was against the rules to bowl in street shoes, or bare feet. "Looks like you're fucked," he said, gesturing to her feet.

She shook her head. "No one that works there would ever kick me out." That was true. Most of the employees were guys, and they would never want to blow their future chances with the "hottest girl in school."

They finally arrived at the alley, and the parking lot was full of an array of cars. The teens walked in, paid to bowl, and chose their lane. Kairi argued with Riku to put down the bumpers while he typed their names in, but he told her to quit being a pussy. They ended up playing two games, which took an hour and half. Riku and Sora were always neck and neck. They shouted to distract the other, always in competition. After the games, they both won one. Jemini was the worst of all, throwing almost all of the balls into the gutter. Riku tried to show her how, but gave up. They would all clap when she would finally hit a pin. The alley had a pizza place in it, so the teens indulged in some while they bowled. Jem complained that it was too fatty, and Riku told her she could just sweat it off later tonight with a wink.

"We should go to my place, my parents are gone," Riku suggested as they prepared to leave.

The other three agreed, and they began to exit. Riku was stopped by Jemini's perfect manicured hand on his shoulder as Sora and Kairi walked out the door. "Can I talk to you?" she asked, looking rather nervous. He nodded, raising his eyebrow at her expression. "So, last night, I went to Malani's party. Pretty much everyone was there. Anyway, I got _super _drunk. Like, get naked drunk. And Shiloh was also at the get naked drunk stage. And we ended up having sex. But, it's not a big deal, since we're not dating, right?"

She quit looking at the universe themed carpet and directed her eyes at him, smiling an innocent smile. Riku sighed. He scratched the back of his head. "Look, Riku, I'm so sorry. I really like you. I thought you were going to ask me out tonight, and I promise I would never cheat on you," she said, her nervous look changing to a begging appearance.

Her eyes widened as he laughed. "Jemini, if I wanted a girlfriend, I wouldn't want to date someone like you." He stopped smiling and put a straight face on. He peered at her, looking for sadness or anger.

"Oh…ok. Let me go to the bathroom, and then can you take me home?" He nodded, and watched as she walked away. His mind filled with a very mean thought, and he exited the bowling alley, where he saw Sora and Kairi talking on the curb.

"Let's bounce," he commanded, and started to walk towards his car. When Kairi questioned where Jemini was, he yelled back; "She fucked Shiloh last night, I'm ditching her." His two friends did not interrogate further, and followed him. Sora took shotgun and Kairi leaned forward between the front seats to talk to them.

As the car drove past the front doors of the alley, Jemini walked out, and she saw the car speeding away. "Riku! What the fuck!" She screamed, trying to walk after them. The silverette held up his middle finger until she was out of view.

After a few moments of silence, the three of them burst out in laughter. "Oh my god, Riku, you're such an asshole," Sora said between laughs.

"But it's soooo funny and she sooooo deserves it." Kairi was giggling like a school girl, obviously not very appreciative of her fellow cheerleader. The three of them collapsed on the couches when they got to Riku's house, still laughing. They decided to listen to music on Xbox and watch the crazy designs dance to the beat.

After a few minutes of them talking, a very out of breath Tidus slammed open the door. "Thank god you're here!" he exclaimed, staring Riku right in the face.

"There's this new thing out now, it's called knocking," Riku said sarcastically. "You should really try it."

"Do you have a condom?" Tidus asked. He was dressed in nice black slacks and a baby blue shirt with a tan jacket over it. He had just taken his lovely girlfriend to the Lighthouse, and some very interesting things had happened on the drive here. "So, Selphie totally let me drive the Bug, and then she gave me road head. And she was like, 'Tidus, my mom's gone, and I want to give myself to you tonight.'" Tidus and Selphie were both virgins, and this was a little surprising. Selphie seemed kind of prude.

"What the fuck, she gave you road head? You could've wrecked!" Kairi scolded, looking very disappointed.

"Well, I'm still standing here. Riku, DO YOU HAVE A CONDOM?" Tidus asked once again, a bit more demanding.

"In my room, nightstand, bottom drawer," he directed. "Take them all, I don't think any girl is going to want to have sex with me for a while." Tidus practically ran for his life up the stairs, and then back down them with a box of Trojans in his hands.

"Wait, can we still come to Selphie's tonight?" Kairi inquired before he shut the door.

"Yeah, I'll call you when you can come." And with that, the blonde was gone.


	4. Bad News

The next two weeks were perfect. While Sora and Kairi were not yet official, they spent almost all of their free time together. He took her to the movies multiple times, and her head rested on his shoulder throughout the whole film. Sora never ran out of ideas for a date; they went snorkeling, jet skiing, fishing, and out to eat. Pretty much everything the island had to offer had been achieved by the two. There were little kisses and holding hands, but one stormy night their physical relationship evolved into a make out session on Sora's couch while a movie seen a thousand times played. Riku and Wakka interrupted it before anything further could happen, holding their longboards down so the rain would not ruin them. Sora found his tongue in Kairi's mouth every private moment after that. He wasn't sure if he was initiating it, or if she was the one jumping on him. Not that he minded. She tasted so sweet, like strawberries dipped in chocolate. Just yesterday, she had let him place his lips on her honeyed neck. He could still smell her vanilla shampoo.

The sound of Tidus whipping out shifted Sora's thoughts to reality. The sun beat hard down on the skate ramps, making the metal burning to touch. Tidus recovered and got right back on his board. Sora sat on top of the ramp, moving his skateboard back and forth under his butt. He had been skating, but it was just too damn hot. Riku plopped down next him, the sweat practically dripping off his forehead. He had just gotten a new haircut, and his long locks had been cut to just below his ears. Sora had joked that he no longer looked like a transvestite, which was met with a punch in the stomach.

"Fuck!" Riku shouted as he looked down at his palm. A number given by a beautiful beach bum had been sweated off. Now, there was just a smudge. Riku was right about being like the plague to women after his move at the bowling alley. Jemini trashed his name to everyone with a vagina, and that had been the first female to approach him. She had liked his new haircut, and really wanted him to call her. Maybe she could get her number from someone else, but only if he remembered her name. It was not below Riku to forget.

"We should go to the beach!" Sora looked up from his phone. "Kairi and Selphie are there." He noticed Riku's very attractive pit stains, and Tidus had removed his shirt. He had decided that his friends needed to cool down before they were all cooked alive.

"Dude, can you say fifth wheel? No thanks." Riku scowled at him. "It is pretty hot though…"

"I promise I won't even kiss Kairi, more than once. Promise. I can't say that for Tidus, but please," he begged with puppy dog eyes. "If I get anymore hotter, I'll look like a fried egg." Riku sighed, but agreed. The three of them walked down the street to the beach, and threw off their shirts as they ran for the water. Everyone knew to wear your swim trunks while skating, so it wasn't their concern that their shorts were getting wet. The water was not as cold as usual, but it felt like heaven. They were all quickly soaked, dunking their burning heads under water as soon as it was deep enough.

When Sora surfaced, he was tackled by his beautiful redhead. She wrapped her legs around his torso and her arms around his neck and gave him a very salty kiss. Their bodies crashed back into the water, and they playfully wrestled before coming up for air. Riku and Tidus were on the beach with Selphie, and Riku had accidentally destroyed the girls' elaborate sandcastle. Selphie had therefore decided to bury him in sand. He laid there, accepting his punishment while Tidus and her dumped buckets of beach on him.

After Kairi and Sora joined them, the girls decided to go get the boys something to drink. They disappeared behind the curve of the beach as they walked to the surf shop. The sand fell off Riku's chest as he sat up, shaking his hair to get the dirt out.

Suddenly, a voice down the beach yelled, "Sora!" All three of them looked in the direction of the noise. A blonde girl in an orange bikini waved violently at the group as she walked towards them, and she was followed by a brunette and a silverette girl, the brunette dressed in a purple one piece suit with a see through cover up tied around her waist, and the silverette dressed in a black bikini with red stripes. Sora searched his memory, and finally remembered them. They had been fairies, and now they were normal. But weren't they with Maleficent?

Sora stood up, ready to fight. Riku immediately followed him, noticing the look of concern in his face. The girls were unarmed though, and they appeared rather normal. Not sinister at all. The blonde one attacked Sora with a hug, and he threw up his arms in surprise. He hugged her back though, a little reluctantly. "I didn't know we were on hugging status…" he said as she stepped away. He tried to remember her name, but it had escaped him. "The Gullwings! I thought you were faeries, and kind of on the other side…"

"Oh, no! We're good guys, for sure! Maleficent was all like, 'Y'all bitches are going to be faeries, and do my shit, or I'm going to kill you!' So we kind of had to listen to her," the blonde one said. Sora really wanted to know their names, so he introduced Tidus and Riku, hoping they would say their names. Riku was standing there like a normal person observing a conversation, but Tidus looked like someone had just punched him in the face, because he definitely had stars in his eyes. He was nearly drooling over the brunette, it was pretty embarrassing.

The blonde shook Riku's hand, noticing Tidus' state. "We're totally name buddies! I have two K's though. This is Yuna and Paine." Yuna waved with a smile, and Paine nodded her head with a frown.

"Did it hurt?" Everyone looked at Tidus with a raised eyebrow, and realized he was talking to Yuna. Rikku and Paine quickly inspected her, but she was fine.

"Uhh…did what hurt?" she asked with a blush.

"When you fell from heaven." Tidus smiled a sweet smile, and Riku laughed. Sora gave him a questioning look, wondering why he would be hitting on her when he was totally in love with Selphie. Sora felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked back to see Kairi. Selphie was standing next to her, and he prayed that she hadn't heard Tidus' cheesy line. She looked kind of pissed, but Kairi just had a concerned look on her face.

"Who is this?" Kairi asked with a smile, noticing that they were definitely not from Destiny Islands. They all introduced themselves once again, and Sora explained how he knew them, for both Riku and Kairi. He then asked them what brought them to the island.

Yuna talked before either Rikku or Paine could talk, holding out her hand to stop them. "Can we talk to you and Riku alone?" she asked, seeing in the concern in Kairi's eyes. The two boys nodded, sending questioning looks to the other one as they followed the Gullwings to the shade of the trees in a secluded area.

"What's going on?" Riku peered into the three's eyes, searching for an answer to be portrayed by their faces. Yuna looked very sad, like the news would personally affect her, Rikku look mildly disappointed, but Paine's face was cold and uncaring. He prepared himself for a blow, and raised his eyebrow high when none of them spoke for few, painstaking moments.

"The King needs you, both of you. He says that something really, really bad has happened. It's so classified that he couldn't tell us what's going on." Riku listen to Yuna with intent, but after the news struck Sora, he just stood there like a doll. His ocean eyes stared blankly into the sand while he absorbed the information. "He says to bring everything you need for a _long_ journey. He doesn't know when you could even be back."

Riku looked at Sora after she paused, and could practically feel his pain. He could see the lone tear roll down his best friend's face and dropped into the sand, and then the immediate cover up of whipping his nose and eyes. He put his hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Sora nodded quickly and faced his depressed face away from the whole group. Yuna touched his arm, reading his movements like he was a book. "Today's Thursday, and we're going to leave on Monday, so you guys can figure everything out. We have a Gummi ship, so we'll take you to Disney Castle and drop you off. You'll talk to the King there." The three of the girls began to walk down the beach, but not without Yuna sending concerned gazes over her shoulder.

"Don't worry, it'll all be cool," Riku said, even though he was lying through his teeth. It wouldn't be cool. Sora was leaving Kairi just as he had finally gotten her. He was still inspecting the sand.

"We have to tell them." Sora spoke half under his breath. The walk back to the group seemed like a mile, the two of them walking as slow as possible. When they got close enough, the other three immediately noticed their looks of dismay. Kairi swiftly asked what had happened. The moments of Riku waiting for Sora to speak dragged on for centuries, so he finally took the torch.

"We're going to have to go away again. Not like last time, when it was just our mastery tests. It's going to be a long time, like before." He saw the shock and awe pass the other three's faces, but Kairi's was an expression of anguish. Her heartbreak was visible all throughout her surface. His simple apology did not even faze her.

The teens sat on the shore in silence until the sun began to set, just listening to the waves crashing into the beach and the seagulls cawing at each other. All five of them went to their separate homes when the night swallowed the island. Riku laid in bed thinking about his predicament. Well, it wasn't really his, but Sora's. He didn't mind getting up and leaving again. The island bored him, and he craved adventure. He would miss his group of friends, but Sora would be there. It would be fun, not lonely like his journey had been before. Without Kairi though, Sora would be fairly lonesome, even with Riku there. His usual smiles would be insincere, and his laughs would be half-hearted. Sleep was creeping up on Riku, and he surrendered to it, falling into a dreamless state.

The ringing of his charging phone woke him up. He groggily reached for it, and answered it without looking at the name. No words were spoken for a few moments, but eventually Sora got tired of waiting for the question of hello. "The park, ten minutes." The instructions shook Riku awake. Through his yawn he asked what time it was. "Three in the AM. Are you going to be there?"

"What for?" Riku didn't really care about the answer. His jeans and sweatshirt quickly covered his body and he was already leaving his house.

"I have to talk to you!" Sora explained, he himself already sitting on the swing set.

"Oh my gosh, don't break up with me!" Riku whined, but then laughed. He could hear Sora chuckling and the creaking of the swing set in the wind. He hung up, and saw the hooded figure in the street light, standing on the wood chips. "What the fuck do you want? Waking me from my beauty sleep, how rude."

"I don't know what to do! I've been up since fucking ten thinking about what to do. Nothing works out," Sora almost yelled at him as he spoke. "I mean, I have one idea, but I really don't think you would like it, and I don't even really like it." Riku already knew what it was. He took a seat on the swing set, preparing himself for Sora's explanation. "We could totally teach her how to be badass, and then we wouldn't miss her. But it's like, would she even want to go? You're roughing it half the time, and she's going to be like, 'I feel so dirty, I need to take an actual shower, why do we have to eat canned food for breakfast, I chipped a nail.' It would probably drive us insane, but who cares? Right?"

Riku was rubbing his eyes, and he looked up at his friend. "I don't care, bring her. But I'm not going to be a baby sitter. She's going to have to take care of herself. If she even wants to go." The brunette looked nervously away.

"What do you think the King has to tell us?"

"I have no fucking clue. Probably some crazy shit. But we should train. I'm feeling a bit rusty."

"Right now?" The look Sora gave Riku was ridiculous.

"No, not right now. It's fucking three in the fucking morning. I am going back to sleep." With that he got up to leave, but Sora stopped him, asking him if he could join him at his house. "Does your mother know where you are at, little boy? You're up way past your bed time."

"I already told them I was leaving, and I told them I had to talk to you. So yeah…they know," he said, recalling the horrible look on his parents' face when he told them about his future trip. Riku then agreed, and the two went to his house. Riku had a futon, pretty much just so Sora could stay there whenever he wanted. Sora took to it immediately and wrapped himself up in a blanket. His heavy eyes closed almost instantly. Riku's soon followed.

When they woke again, it was nine. The sun was generously shining through the window, besides the blinds trying to keep it out. They decided to go for a run, to prepare for the day of training. Dressed in their workout attire, the two teenagers took to the streets. Even though yesterday was blistering, today's morning was full of cool air. Everyone was hustling and bustling around the town. Riku let Sora lead the run, and he realized that was a bad idea. By the time they reached their destination, they had run five miles. And after he rested his head between his knees so he could avoid puking his empty stomach up, he looked up to see the familiar sight of Kairi's brick house. Sora was resting his hands on his hips and panting, maybe trying to catch his breath and wipe the sweat off his brow before meeting his…Kairi.

The brunette approached the door and rang the doorbell, and Riku quickly followed, dying for a drink of the cold water he knew resided inside. It took about five minutes for the door to swing open, but when it did, a tired Kairi stood behind it, rubbing her eyes and trying to fix her bedhead all while yawning. Through her stretch, she asked them what they wanted. "Kairi, we just ran here all the way from my house. We need some aqua!" Riku exclaimed, and stepped around her to the kitchen. The cup was skipped, and his mouth was placed under the running faucet. The cold droplets were spread all over his skull with his fingers. When he was done taking a bath in the sink, he turned around to see Kairi and Sora standing there, giving him their raised eyebrows. "What? I was hot."

Kairi got the two some civilized water, and they sat down at her breakfast bar. The three indulged in some muffins her mother had made earlier, and when they were done, they sat there in silence. Until Sora broke it; "Kairi, I have to ask you something."

She looked at him, and smiled. "What is it?" Her fingers drummed over his hand resting on the counter, and Sora waited yet another few moments to speak, trying to find the right words to say.

"We were wondering…" He looked at Riku, who gave him a glare. "I mean, mostly I was wondering, if you wanted to go with us. You're a Key Wielder and all, and even though you might not be as good as us, I bet if we taught you, you would get there…But if you don't want to go, I get it. It's going to be hard. Leaving your family and friends."

Sora almost had the air knocked out of him with the hug Kairi threw at him. Their bar stools shook from the impact, but eventually landed all legs on the ground. "Oh my gosh, of course I'll go!" She planted a big wet one right on his lips, and the puckering noise could defiantly be heard all across the house.

"Hey, keep it G-rated!" The three of them looked up at the voice, and saw the tall Zoki standing in the archway of the kitchen. Sora greeted him, but Riku remained silent. The 21 year old took two muffins.

"Who's the other one for?" Riku inquired, the muffins being too large for just one person to eat.

"Zoki, where's your toothbrush?" A familiar voice said, also coming from the archway. She turned the corner, and her turquoise eyes almost popped out when she saw her silver haired brother sitting at the counter. Her black curly hair fell over an old DIHS Blitzball jersey, which made her appear she was not wearing pants, even though her boxer shorts were covering her creamy legs. "Ew, why are you here?"

"More importantly, why are you here, also with no pants on?" The matching eyes met as Riku interrogated his sister, but not before he shot a scowl in Zoki's direction. She pulled up the shirt, showing off her pink and blue plaid shorts.

"I spent the night, douche. Just because you're not getting laid doesn't mean you have to hate everyone that is." She stuck her tongue out at him as she walked over to her boyfriend and took the banana nut muffin out of his hand. "Mom told me you're leaving again. Yay!"

"I'm going, too!" Kairi's voice surprised Zoki, and his coffee eyes almost fell out of his head as he stared at her.

"What? You're not going! No way am I letting you gallivant around the universe with these two idiots! You could die!" The grimace that creeped onto Kairi's face showed her disapproval of what her brother was saying.

"Seriously, you're fucking my sister, and then you're going to call me a fucking idiot?" Riku stood up, separating Zoki from Kairi. The tension in the room got worse, but Kairi's father walked in, obviously too tired to notice the scene. After he wished everyone good morning, Riku returned to his bar stool after throwing Zoki another dirty look.

"Dad, you know how Riku and Sora are leaving again?" Dono Nao confirmed he knew this with a nod at his son. "Well, Kairi thinks she's going with them, isn't that ridiculous?"

"No, she can go," her father said after sipping his coffee and sitting at the table. Kairi's what filled the air, and he repeated himself. "You can go, Kairi. You are a Key Wielder, it's your responsibility. I trust Riku and Sora enough to make sure you are safe." The redhead flew off her bar stool and hugged her parental, thanking him over and over again. Zoki stood there speechless, and then walked up to his room, quickly being followed by Caede.

"Well…we were going to go train on the island, want to come?" Sora asked Kairi as he stood up. She quickly nodded, and the three began to leave. Sora was stopped by Dono Nao asking his name.

"Take care of my daughter, Sora. I know she's adopted, but she means the world to me. I can tell she means the world to you, too, but I've seen many men hurt women that mean the world to them. And you don't want to know what would happen if you hurt her." His speech was spoken as he stared through the window, never once making eye contact with the teenager. Sora was mildly scared, but he knew that Dono Nao just really cared about his daughter. He promised to respect him and Kairi, and bowed to him as he walked out.

The three Key Wielders walked to the dock after Kairi changed into some workout appropriate clothes. They boarded Kairi's boat, which was ten times better than Wakka's. It never stalled, and it was constantly cleaned by Zoki. The cool water splashed onto them as Kairi sped to island. Once they reached it, they made their way to the other side.

"Me and you." Riku pointed at Sora when they touched the grass. Sora nodded, and Kairi sat on the side, preparing to watch as many rounds as they could do. Both of the boys stretched, and once they finished, they looked at each other. Neither of them had even summoned their keyblade since their Mark of Mastery tests in April. It was now the middle of June. Way to Dawn materialized in Riku's left hand, and he didn't even wait for Sora to summon the Kingdom Key before swinging at him. The silver blade met the black one quickly, and the flash of movement began. Every movement was met with a counter movement. But Sora slipped up. Riku kicked his feet out from under him, and pointed Way to Dawn at his throat. "Dead." He stuck out his hand, and lifted Sora up.

They fought two more times, Riku winning one more and Sora winning the last. They were tired, but they both looked at Kairi. "Come here," Sora directed her. She stood up, and slowly walked to them. She was actually frightened. After she had watched them fight, she realized she would probably be useless. "Summon your keyblade." She smiled at Sora, and thought about Destiny's Embrace in her hand. Nothing happened for a few moments.

"I…I can't," she stuttered, blushing from embarrassment. The flowery keyblade immediately materialized in her hand when Riku took a swing at her head, and she hit his keyblade with hers. "Don't do that!" She sent him a glare as she lowered her blade.

"Okay, Kai, let's do it," Sora said after he also shot Riku a scowl. Kairi reddened as Riku laughed at Sora's wording, but the silverette left to take her spot in the grass. Sora showed Kairi how to correctly hold her keyblade after he realized she hung onto it for dear life. It should be a tight hold, but not enough that her hands were shaking like she had Parkinson's. He showed her how to swing, and how to counter attack. He explained that Heartless were different to fight though, because most of them didn't have weapons. "It's like fighting a wolf." Then, he told her to come at him. She ran at him and waited for the last minute to swing, and Sora quickly pushed her back. She expected him to declare her 'dead' when she fell in the grass, but he instructed her to get back up and keep trying. This lasted for ages, Kairi swaying at Sora, and then his counter attack causing her to fall or stumble just due to his strength. Riku quickly got bored, and decided to take a quick nap. When he awoke, Kairi had finally been able to make two stabs in a row, but Sora was still kicking her ass. It had been hours, and he was sick of her inability.

"Oh my god let me try!" Riku stood up and approached the two when Kairi fell once again into the grass. Sora shrugged at Kairi, and sat in the spot sunken into the dirt where Riku had been laying. "Come at me." Riku stepped back and looked at Kairi, waiting for her predictable swing at the torso. Once it happened, Way to Dawn met Destiny's Embrace's fin and it flew out of Kairi's hand. Riku caught it with his right hand as Kairi fell to the ground, and the cold metal of both blades surrounded Kairi's throat as he pressed them gently against her skin. "Dead," he declared, and threw Kairi's keyblade in the lawn.

"Riku, what the fuck are you doing! We're supposed to be helping her, not freaking her out!" Sora almost ran at him to push him away and help Kairi up. She was out of breath, and her eyes looked blank.

"Do you think whoever or whatever we're going to be fighting is just going to let her get back up when she falls? Did that happen to either of us?" Riku looked expectantly at Sora, and crossed his arms. "No, that's not going to be how it's going to go down. Heartless claw you in the face when you fall." He pointed to a faded scar above his eyebrow. "They attack you, like you're a piece of meat. And they've been starving, for years. You have to get back up, as soon as possible, no matter how tired you are, or how much you ache, or how much blood you're losing. You get up, and you fight. Not for the greater good, or for the demise of evil, or any other bullshit, but for your life. And if you can't do that, you might as well not come." With that, he walked off the showers.


	5. Embarking

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed or subscribed to my story! You're all greatly appreciated. This chapter contains some citrus-y action. No full out sex, but some outercourse. BE WARNED.**

After Riku's speech, Kairi had worked her ass off. By Sunday, she had even thrown Sora in the sand, but he had been fighting Riku all afternoon. Riku and Sora decided she was suitable enough to come along, and now it was Monday morning. "Seven AM, sharp," Riku had said about coming to pick her up in the Jeep. It was already 6:50, and she was still throwing everything but the kitchen sink in her bags. Her luggage consisted of her suitcase full of clothes, two bags full of hair products, makeup, and other bathroom necessities, a duffel bag packed with shoes, her computer, stacks of movies, her sleeping bag, her Perry the Platypus oversized pillow, and then some blankets and bed pillows. It was 7:01 when the doorbell rang, and she pulled a volleyball shirt over her sports bra and walked down. Sora was revealed when she opened the front door, looking very lazy in his basketball shorts and Nike shirt. He was still made her sweat though.

"Good morning, do you need help with your bags?" She smiled at his kindness, and led him up to her room. "Jesus Christ, Kairi, do you really need all of this stuff?" He was shocked at all of her belongings. He just had his suitcase, a bag for his toiletries, and then his bed sheets. She nodded, rolling her eyes at him. They began to take her stuff to Riku's car, making three trips. He had the same reaction as Sora when he saw all of her possessions. His tiny Jeep was then packed full of baggage, leaving no room for Kairi to sit in the back seat. She opened the front door for Sora, gesturing for him to get in. He climbed up, and she crawled up into his lap. Sora's face turned bright red, but he pulled her closer to him so they didn't look so conspicuous. She felt so warm, and he had to hold himself back from getting hard, because she would defiantly feel it in her position.

The Gummi ship became visible, sitting in the sand on a secluded beach. The Gullwings were leaning against it, waiting for the other three to arrive. Riku pulled up as close as he could, and all six of them began to move the bags onto the ship. Just as the last ones were put on, a little yellow Volkswagen bug pulled up by the Jeep, and Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka rolled out. Selphie ran at Kairi and jumped on her, and the two fell into the cool sand. "Don't leave!" Selphie cried as she held tightly on to her best friend. "What am I going to do without you? I'll be stuck with Tidus and Wakka, and they drive me insane!" Kairi was giggling fiercely as Selphie tickled her armpits. The redhead pushed her off, and the two stood up. Selphie gave both Riku and Sora a tight hug, telling them to take care of her BFF. Sora promised he would, but Riku said he couldn't keep Sora out of her pants. Kairi's face turned as red as her hair, and Sora glared at his best friend. Riku gave his keys to Wakka, having to leave his car on the island. The four boys said good bye to each other, and the Gullwings and the Key Wielders boarded the ship, the door closing as they waved to their friends.

"So…who's driving?" Sora questioned, looking around the ship. There was a small kitchenette, a hallway that led to the two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a couch with a flat screen in front of it. The controls sat behind the TV, and two swivel chairs were positioned in front of them, looking out the wide window that showed the rising sun over the ocean. It was exactly like the one he had shared with Goofy and Donald.

"Well, Rikku was the one driving before, since she's the only one that knows how. But she kind of sucks," Paine said emotionlessly. It was probably the first thing Sora had ever heard come out of her mouth. "You should drive, Sora. You're probably better at taking off than her."

He didn't question her suggestion, and quickly sat down at the controls. The engine rumbled as his fingers flicked the buttons and switches with the same precision that a master piano player has when he tickles the ivories. The ship flew down the beach, and lifted into the air just before it hit the water. Altitude increased quickly, and soon the blue skies faded into clouds, and then a black universe. The oxygen generator kicked on, and Sora brought the map up. Disney Castle was about a day's worth of travel away, and he set the autopilot in that direction. There was no need to hand drive all the way there, but he needed to pay attention in case they encountered an asteroid field. He spun around in his chair, and noticed the other five observing him like he was a strange creature at the zoo. He proudly thought they were marveling at his skills of driving the Gummi ship.

"Wow! I couldn't have done that without landing in the ocean!" Rikku exclaimed as she sat on the wide half circle couch. "I'm so jealous!" Yuna and Paine sat on either side of her, Yuna flattening out her long skirt and Paine crossing her legs. "What should we do? We'll probably get to Disney Castle early tomorrow morning." Rikku looked around at all of them, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"How old are you guys?" Riku asked as he sat in the swivel chair next to Sora.

"Well, I'm seventeen, Paine's nineteen, and then baby Yunie is sixteen," the blonde explained as Kairi took a seat next to Yuna.

"How do you know each other?" Kairi inquired, smiling at Yuna.

"We're cousins! Well, Rikku's dad is my mom's brother, and then Paine's mom is my dad's sister. We've known each other since we were really little," Yuna clarified, grinning at her companions.

"What world are you from?" Sora asked, scooting his chair closer to the couch.

With his question, all three of the girls frowned and looked at the ground. "We're from a world called Spira. It was destroyed by an evil called Sin, along with Maleficent. She left at the last moment, and all three of us ran through the portal she created so we wouldn't die. We were the first three, but there were a lot of our family members and friends behind us. We were the only ones to make it through, and the portal closed up. Everyone else died. But the good thing is that Sin died too. Maleficent thought he could be stronger than her, so she got rid of him." Yuna sighed as she finished. Sora suddenly felt very sorry for asking, not wanting to bring up unwanted memories.

"Why did you three get to go first?" Riku rudely asked, and both Sora and Kairi glared at him.

"Because of Yuna. Rikku and I are her guardians, and we must always protect her," Paine said as she frowned at Riku.

"And she is important because…?" Riku looked at Yuna. She looked like the average teenage girl, not strong at all.

"I'm an oracle. I can see the future, and all the other oracles were killed on their pilgrimage to defeat Sin. It was prophesized that I would help save Spira, so it would only make sense to make sure I was alive after it was destroyed," Yuna whispered, ignoring Riku's impoliteness.

"Tell me my future!" Kairi exclaimed happily, trying to change the subject.

Yuna laughed sweetly. "It doesn't work like that. I can't just have a vision whenever I want, they come to me. The last one I had was when I was 10, when Sin started to take control of my world. It was about Maleficent. I saw her battle him, and win, so my people thought she was a good guy. But that wasn't true. She turned many of us into Heartless."

"A world swallowed by darkness isn't destroyed. It resides in the Realm of Darkness. It can be brought to life again," Sora said hearteningly. "Your family and friends aren't dead, they just aren't existing at the moment. The same thing happened to Destiny Island two years ago. But Kairi and I brought it back to life with the light in our hearts. Maybe on our journey, we can bring your world back, too."

The six of them decided to quit talking and watch movies. The girls picked out their outfits for the meeting with the King tomorrow. They made sandwiches for lunch and chicken Caesar salad for dinner. Then it was time for sleeping arrangements. There were two small beds in one room where Paine and Rikku usually slept, and then Yuna's queen sized bed in the other room. The couch was big enough for someone to lie on. "Us Gullwings will sleep in the two bed room. Yuna and I can share!" Rikku explained, and the three of them ventured off to get ready for sleep.

"Sora, let's sleep in the big bed. Riku can sleep on the couch," Kairi offered, and Riku glared at her.

"Why do you get to sleep in a bed while I sleep on the couch?" he questioned, pouting his lip out.

"Well, first of all, there's two of us, and only one of you. I know you're pretty fat, but just hold it in so you can fit." Sora laughed as Riku flipped him the bird. "C'mon, Kairi, let's go to bed." He grabbed her soft hand and followed her into the bedroom. She was already dressed in her pajamas of green boxer shorts and a white tank top. She was still as stunning as she would've been in a ball gown, though. She rolled into the covers, and Sora followed her. They lied facing each other. Her chin rested on the edge of the pillow, and her eyes stared at him. She scooted closer to him, and touched her lips to his. Their dance began, the two sets of lips rubbing against each other gently. Sora's tongue licked her bottom lip, and she opened up, letting him into her mouth. Their tongues swirled around each other, and she moaned quietly into his mouth. Her hands slipped up his shirt, feeling his toned abs. She could feel his heart pounding out of his chest, so she stopped, not wanting to defile Yuna's bed.

"I'm so glad I came with you," she said as she pulled away, smiling beautifully at him. "Good night, Sora." She kissed him lightly on the lips, and closed her eyes.

"Kairi, I…" Sora began, but stopped himself as he realized what he was going to say. He couldn't let that come out of his mouth, not yet. "I'm really glad you came, too." The two of them fell asleep, with his arm around her tiny waist and her hand resting on his chest.

The silverette in the living room tried as hard as he could to get comfortable, but no crook in the couch hugged his back just the way he liked. The attempts were soon given up, and he sat up straight to watch TV. Channels were changed every time a commercial started playing, and all shows seemed the same. About an hour later, he was snapped out of the television universe to the sound of a door creaking open, and a sneaky Rikku creeping out into the living room. She sent him a wave and a smile when he looked at her, and her voice interrupted the TV. "Can I sit by you?" she asked quite courteously, and he nodded. She brought her miles of legs over to the couch and took a seat. "I couldn't sleep at all. Yunie moves around _way_ too much. So, I was thinking I could come out here and treat myself to this, maybe with you?" She pulled a glass pipe loaded full of marijuana out of her sweatshirt pocket. "I mean, I don't know if you smoke, but it always helps me sleep."

Riku wasn't a drug addict, but he had participated in marijuana smoking before. Wakka was always the initiator, being a Rastafarian and all. His job as a lifeguard had prevented any further indulgence though, so he had quit. That made the last time he had smoked March 20, his seventeenth birthday. He had remembered that that was the first night he had sex with CiCi since he had returned, and she was also very stoned. He snapped out of his train of thought, and examined Rikku intently. Her blonde hair fell down her back in a loose braid, the smaller braids full of beads standing out. Her upper torso was covered in a loose grey sweatshirt, and then her legs covered with some boxer shorts. Speaking of her legs, they were amazing. He recalled her body when she was wearing her bikini, and decided it was pretty great. She could easily be a model, but a Victoria's Secret model, because she had the boobs for it. Her ears were covered with hoops and studs, and she even had a little stud in her nose. Then he remembered how long it had been since he got laid, and decided this was a great time to be commencing in such activities. "Sure," he said with a smirk.

Riku coughed the first few hits, but his throat got used to the heat of the smoke. They were both soon giggling at the stupid infomercial that came up, making fun of the Sham-Wow guy. Soon, their conversation turned to sex. He questioned if she was a virgin. "Hell no! I've had sex like, tons of times. I'm pretty sure I'm a sex addict. Last time for me was like one month ago in Hollow Bastion, and it sucks _so_ bad. But we've been so busy trying to figure out where to live." She gazed at him with half opened green eyes, and he smiled a large grin back. "You know, you're really hot."

"It must be a Riku thing, because you're really hot too," he said back with a cocky smirk. She then questioned his virginity, and he shook his head. After she asked how many people he has had sex with, he told her the truth of five like a true gentleman. She confessed that she has had sex with at least eight people, and he raised his eyebrow at the at least. Maybe she was drunk at the time, and didn't know if she had sex with the guy she woke up next to. He shrugged. "That's not too bad. What if, by tomorrow morning, for you, it was at least nine, and then for me, it was defiantly six? And then, instead of for you, the last time would be tonight, instead of a month ago, and then the same for me, instead of two weeks ago?" He looked over at her with seductive eyes.

His suggestion was met with a pair of lips crashing on to his, and some slender hands pushing him back into the couch. Rikku was soon on top of him, her knees resting on either side of his hips. Their kiss was very hot and full of lust, their tongues conflicting together and fighting for dominance. His hands traveled up and down her sweet body over her clothes teasingly several times before dipping under her sweatshirt. Where he expected to be a t-shirt lay bare skin, and his fingers tiptoed up her back, discovering no sports bra. His green eyes flashed to the hallway, and instead of removing her top, he lifted it up, revealing her amble breasts. They were large, and perky, and her tiny pink nipples reacted to the cold rather quickly. His tongue danced over her collar bone, and her fingers twisted into his silver hair.

"Riku!" she squealed as his mouth fell on her nipple. He quit and held his pointer finger to his mouth, not wanting them to get caught. She zipped her mouth shut, and he returned to his task. After running circles around her right nipple with his tongue, he flicked it between his lips and brought his hand up to play with her left one. He turned his attention to the other one, and she rubbed her self eagerly on his crouch, feeling his hardness underneath his shorts. Riku's right hand ran across her hip to her inner thigh, and he felt the stitching of her panties mischievously. "Touch me, please," she begged, scratching the back of his head hard.

His fingers dipped into her panties, meeting a very wet, very smooth pussy. He spread her juices over her lips, and then gradually up to her clit. Her chin fell on top of Riku's head as he continued to suck her nipples and touch them with his left hand while his right hand rubbed her clit gently. Her fingers were in her mouth, and she was biting on them so no moans would escape. Riku's index finger slipped into her core, and she bit down harder. He felt the walls for the raised patch of rough tissue, and finally felt it when Rikku's other hand squeezed his shoulder. His thumb met her clit and continued to rub it, while his pointer finger rubbed at her G-spot. Rikku was riding his finger, and he began to feel her muscles clench around his finger. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't hold back the moan that came with her orgasm, and she clasped on him, breathing heavy. He removed his hands from her underwear, and smiled up at her. He kissed her gently, and asked if she liked that.

"Do you have a condom?" she breathed, looking at him like she wanted to eat him for every meal for the rest of her life. Riku nodded eagerly, and she rolled off of him. His condoms resided in his toiletries bag, which was in the bathroom. He was gone for maybe two minutes, but in that time, the effect the marijuana had wore off of Rikku, and so had the horniness. She remembered Yuna and Paine and Sora and Kairi sleeping just down the hall, and how if any of them got up to go to the bathroom, they would see her slutty self getting fucked by a guy she just met. When Riku returned holding a green Trojan, she looked up at him with shameful eyes. "Maybe we shouldn't do this."

"What? Why?" He asked, disappointed that he couldn't feel those muscles convulse around his dick.

"What if someone hears us? That would be so embarrassing," she said with a pout. "Besides, we just met. I don't want to be a slut."

"That's not fair; you get to get off, and then I get blue balls." He frowned sadly at her, his erection becoming quite lonely and craving attention.

"Well, I can still do something for you?" Rikku looked seductively up at him, and grabbed at his hips. He stepped closer to her, and she stared up at him as she reached to his pants. Her jaw almost fell off when she felt his hard member's full length, he was humongous. "Oh my bejeezus, how did you expect to fit this inside me?" Riku proudly smiled down at her, but there was no way he was coming with just a hand job. His prayers were answered when she pulled down the front of his shorts and boxers, and the cool air sent shivers down his spine when he was exposed. They were nothing like the shivers he got when her tongue flicked out of her mouth and licked the drops of precum off his mushroom tip, and then again when she took it in her mouth, sucking on it lightly. He gasped as she took him all into her, inch by inch. Eventually, he could feel himself hitting the back of her relaxed throat.

"Damn, you must have practiced this a lot," he said huskily as she began sucking on him. She laughed at his comment, causing her throat to vibrate and his hand to clench the back of her head. She took notice of this, and began humming as she sucked faster and faster. This went on for about five minutes, and then she began bobbing up and down, all while continuing humming and sucking. Faster and faster, harder and harder, and Riku soon felt his cum build up at his tip. He bucked into her opening as he spilled his seed down her throat, and she continued her actions, letting him ride out his orgasm for as long as it lasted. As soon as he finished, he pulled out, and handed her a cup. She denied with a swallow of his sperm, and he sighed, amazed at how seductive she still was.

"That was fun," he commented, and noticed how tired he had become.

"It was really fun. I'm tired though." She looked up at him with leaf green eyes. "Can I sleep out here with you?" Riku didn't usual sleep with a girl who just blew him, but he didn't mind. They lied down side by side, and Rikku cuddled up next to him, both of them sharing a pillow. Riku had to hold onto her so she didn't fall off, but it was fine. She was warm, and her breathing calmed him down. Sleep quickly overtook the two tired teenagers, but not before Rikku thought about how everyone would wake up and see them in this compromising position. Oh well.


	6. The Wise

"Does anyone know how to tie a tie?" Sora's large fingers fumbled with the red silk around his neck, which stood out brightly against his white shirt. He was standing in the hallway outside the bathroom, where the four girls were gazing into the mirror and fixing their hair and makeup. Kairi's little hands soon fell on his neck and tied the tie perfectly, due to her watching her father tie ties since she could remember. A tight hot pink skirt hugged her thighs, and her beautiful torso was shielded by a white ruffle necked blouse. She looked very professional. "Thanks," he whispered to her with a gentle smile, and then turned away to join Riku on the couch.

His best friend was dressed in tan slacks and a black shirt with a blue tie that had been done up effortlessly without the help of female hands. The sleep was still being rubbed out of his turquoise eyes. Sora had discovered him and Rikku on the couch earlier that morning, but had no idea what had happened. He looked down the hallway, seeing the door wide open, and decided to wait to ask when they had more privacy. After staring at the TV screen for another fifteen minutes, Riku and Sora both became impatient. "Hurry the fuck up! You said the meeting was at 8, and its 7:30 right now!" The silverette yelled down the corridor.

The four girls took five minutes longer, but they all quickly rolled out of the bathroom. Paine was dressed in boyish slacks and a shirt, but the others wore skirts and blouses. Yuna was conservatively outfitted as always, her skirt falling past her knees and her collar covering her cleavage and collar bone. "Aww, you guys look so pretty," Sora complimented, and everyone but Paine smiled back at him. He looked out the driving window and awed at the sight of Disney Castle, which had been in their view for the last hour or so. He took the controls, and reached for the headset connected to the dashboard. It felt warm and used against his ears. "Beta 947, requesting permission to land, over," he said into the static.

"Sora?" An excited voice shouted into his ear. His hands hurriedly turned to volume down, and he clenched in the pain he felt in his eardrum, but it gradually subsided.

"Ow, Goofy, don't shout," he instructed, and an apology was quickly uttered over the radio.

"Hangar 101 granting permission to land to Beta 947," Goofy said officially. "The roof's already opened. Can you do this by yourself, Sora?" He recalled the times that they had visited Disney Castle before, and Goofy had to help Sora position the ship directly over the opening in the roof and then slowly descend down into the hanger.

"I got it," Sora responded, and the ship began to enter the atmosphere of the world, the clouds swirling around them. The Gummi Hangar came into view, the castle rising up behind it. Sora slowed the vessel, and came to a complete stop over the roof. The hover jets turned on, and the ship began to drift downwards into the building. A loud noise jolted everyone, and Yuna, Rikku, and Kairi screamed. The ship barely scraped the side of the roof, leaving just a small scratch, but it sounded very scary inside. The ship shook as it landed on the concrete floor, its underside kissing the surface. Everyone sighed in relief when they became still, and then glared at Sora. He exclaimed his apology, citing how this ship was a bit bigger than the one he had driven.

The smell of oil and the sound of water turning to steam filled their senses as they exited onto the deck. Sora's name was exclaimed and then he was attacked with a hug. The dog was practically wagging his tail with excitement. Goofy greeted the others, and then led them out of the Hangar into the gardens. It was a beautiful day, not too hot, but not too cold. The hedges were perfectly trimmed as always, and butterflies drank from the gorgeous flowers. The warmth from the sun was quickly replaced by the chill of the castle as they entered the main corridor. Surprisingly, they walked right past the huge elaborate doors that opened into the throne room, and straight down the hall towards the library. Riku and Sora entered the room without incident, but Goofy stopped the girls as they tried to step over the threshold. "Sorry, this meeting is classified, not even I can attend," he said as he began to close the door.

"Wait, Kairi's with us." Sora put his hand on the door, and held his other out for the redhead. Goofy let her pass, but not without a concerned frown. He had thought she had just come to bid them goodbye. The princess grabbed the Key Bearer's hand and stepped out of the doorway before it closed. The shelves of books reached all the way to the ceiling, which let the sun shine through its translucent material. A long, oak table sat in the middle of the room, and it was empty. The three of them were alone, and they took their seats; Sora and Kairi sitting next to each other, and Riku positioned right across from them. "So, you and Rikku…." Sora said to his best friend with a smirk. "What happened?"

Riku gave Kairi a look, but she seemed uninterested in Sora's question and was too busy examining the unfamiliar room. "Oh, nothing much," he said nonchalantly. "She came out to the living room because she couldn't sleep, and then we were smoking and watching TV. But then, we started talking about sex. So in the end, I fingered her and she gave me head."

Kairi suddenly became very attentive to their conversation. "What? Smoking what? You don't even know her, and you guys did all that stuff?" She was almost scolding him with her disappointed appearance.

"Crack!" Riku answered sarcastically. Then he laughed at how angry she had become. "We were just smoking weed, calm down, _Mom_." Kairi glared at the title, but their talking stopped when the wooden doors opened. A large eared king stepped in, followed by a tall, old man with a very pointy hat. Kairi recognized Mickey, having met him many times before, but she had never met the bearded wizard. They both took a seat towards the head of the table.

"Good morning, fellas." Mickey smiled at Riku and Sora, but then gave Kairi a concerned look. "Uh, your Majesty, this is a level 1 clearance meeting. I'm going to have to ask you to leave." He stood up to open to door for her. Kairi looked expectantly at Sora, wanting him to say it was OK for her to stay.

"Your Majesty, we decided Kairi is coming with us, whatever we have to do," Sora addressed King Mickey with a bowed head. "Please let her stay." Mickey examined the girl, and then the two boys. They were a lot stronger and more talented than her, and he trusted the both of them with the safety of the universe and his life. But he could feel the pure light from Kairi's heart, and he accepted her presence at the meeting. He took his seat again. Riku gestured with his chin that Kairi should introduce herself to Yen Sid.

"Sir, my name is Kairi, nice to meet you," she said with a smile at the old man. He did not smile back, but sent her a respected nod.

"And you as well, your Majesty. I am Yen Sid," he responded. It was weird for Kairi to be called your Majesty, since no one ever addressed her as that. "Now, let's get down to business." The sorcerer pulled out a folder full of papers, and both Riku and Sora got wide eyed, remembering their stacks of books they had to study for their mastery tests.

Mickey opened the folder, and pulled out a stapled report. He dawned his glasses and peered at the writing. "_May 17__th_," he began. "'At_ approximately 0400 hours, a loud noise awoke the members of the Hallow Bastion Restoration Committee. Upon investigation, my colleague, Cloud Strife, and I discovered a wounded man in Ansem's lab. He suffered from a deep cut to the shoulder. The loud noise was created by the subject shuffling through a cabinet, but what he was looking for was not discovered. The man's face wad hidden by a hood pulled over his head, and he looked to be about six foot four. He was garbed in a black hooded sweatshirt and slacks, but wore only socks on his feet. He was older than both Cloud and I, so he could've possibly been in his thirty's or forty's. Cloud offered him the help of our healer, Aerith, but he quickly denied it. We questioned his name, but he said nothing. He then asked where Ansem was, and we stated the fact of his death, thinking he could possibly be a friend from long ago. The man did not become distressed upon learning the information, but instead stated the death was a good thing. Another voice from down the hallway addressed the man as Superior, and that voice was much younger than the voice of Subject A. The voice instructed him to hurry up, and Cloud went to investigate. We both had our weapons drawn now, fearing that the subjects were threats. A scuffle between Cloud and Subject B ensued, and Subject B was also a hooded figure. I pointed my blade at Subject A, and he disappeared through a Corridor of Darkness, but not before calling out to Subject B to "return to base." Subject B then followed suit, and Cloud and I regrouped. After thinking about whom the voices could've belonged to, we decided Subject B sounded a lot like Sa__ϊ__x, Rank VII within the Organization XIII. We recalled how Sora Irino had defeated and killed him in their last encounter_.' This report was written by Squall Leonhart, and we researched how Saϊx could possibly be alive. Master Yen Sid discovered this old book in his collection." Mickey pulled a large, dusty book out of the folder, and flipped to a page. "It basically says, if a Heartless is killed by a keyblade, its heart ascends into Kingdom Hearts, which is common knowledge. But what happens to a Nobody killed by a keyblade? A Nobody consists of a being's body and soul, and the Heartless is just the dark heart. This book states that upon the death of a Nobody at the hand of a Key Wielder, its body and soul also ascend into Kingdom Hearts. It goes on to say that in Kingdom Hearts, the body and soul wonder around the darkness until it finds its heart. The being then can become 'reborn' into the universe, creating a new creature, called a Wise. The being has the basic characteristic of a human, but its heart still belongs to the darkness. The beings sometime can hold the powers of both a Heartless and a Nobody. Now, Yen Sid and I, think that Saϊx's Heartless was killed with a keyblade, and we know for a fact that his nobody was destroyed by you, Sora. This could mean that the Subject B in Leon's report was in fact Saϊx, but who would he address as his Superior?" Mickey looked around at the table.

"Xehanort," Riku said coldly, and murder danced across his eyes.

"Exactly," Mickey continued. "Xehanort's Heartless and Nobody were both put to death by keyblades. That means Subject A defiantly could've been Xehanort as a Wise. Your mission is to travel across the Worlds, and try to find Xehanort, and then destroy him. Also, other Organization members may be Wises as well-"

"Axel!" Sora exclaimed, clenching his fists together in excitement. Everyone shot him a questioning look, and Sora decided in himself that Roxas had just took control of his brain and couldn't hold his happiness within Sora's heart. "Sorry," he quickly apologized for interrupting his King.

"Yes, as I was saying, others may be Wises as well. We cannot be sure if they are threats, since some Organization members obviously had left the group at the time of their deaths. Zexion, Marluxia, Larxene, Lexaeus, Vexen, and Axel had all abandoned the group. But their intentions could be questionable. A Wise can gain light back into their hearts, by what means, we do not know. Some may be trying to return to a normal life, some may hold revenge against Xehanort in their heart, and some may still want to kill you. Your mission is also to figure out the intents of the members, if you find them alive. Can you do that?"

Sora's heart was still reeling from excitement as Roxas thought about seeing his best friend again, Riku was thinking about how he might have to kill someone he had already killed, and Kairi was all sorts of confused at the names she had never even heard before. But they all agreed to the adventure. Mickey and Yen Sid smiled. Yen Sid handed Sora his ring of key chains, which were filled with all different shapes and sizes. A chest was also awarded to the Key Bearer, which contained his armor and magik enhancements. The King said there was a Gummi Ship waiting in the Hangar for them, and their luggage had been moved. He said that Leon was waiting for them in Hallow Bastion, and he could help start their quest. Yen Sid and Mickey stayed in the library as the three exited, and the Gullwings were sitting on the floor outside, looking rather bored.

"What happened?" Rikku immediately questioned, and Kairi began to think worse of her, recalling how she had let Riku in her pants on the first day of talking to him longer than five minutes.

"Classified," Riku said with a smile. "Where are you guys going?" They all began to walk back towards the Hangar.

"King Mickey found someone for us to live with on Destiny Island. He thinks we should go to school," Yuna said. "Plus, we're supposing to be their protectors, since you guys are going to be gone for a while."

Sora became concerned with the thought of three girls defending his home world, but maybe they were tough. He remembered seeing their weapons on their ship, and was surprised at them. Guns, swords, you name it, they had it. They must be fierce if they can use those.

When they reached their ships, they bid each other good bye. Rikku gave Riku a small peck on the cheek, which Sora would later find out was very odd to his friend, and Yuna hugged Kairi. The Gullwings took off first, and then Sora fit through the opening without incident. They went in opposite directions once in the black sky of the stars, the Gullwings heading back to Destiny Islands, and the Key Wielders heading towards Hallow Bastion.


	7. Chickens in Radiant Garden

**A/N: So, I was replaying KHII, and I totally forgot that Hollow Bastion turned back to Radiant Gardens. Oops. So from now on, that's what it is!**

Radiant Gardens was a hot, humid world in the summertime. It was at least 100 degrees, and no wind blew through the streets to ease the suffering of the population. Besides the hellish weather, it seemed that every citizen and their mothers were out and about today. The Gummi Hangar was by the marketplace, and the three Key Wielders had to weave through the crowds to try and get to Merlin's. While stopping to get Kairi a drink of water at a fountain so she didn't have a heat stroke, Sora saw a very familiar face. He waved in her direction and exclaimed her name, and she immediately whipped around to face them from across the fountain.

Yuffie was dressed in black denim shorts with a frayed hem, and her lime green bikini poked out underneath her lilac tank top. A smile danced across her face at the sight of Sora, and she circled around the fixture to talk to him. "Sora! It's so good to see you!" She wrapped her arms around his neck, and realized that the young man had grown taller since their last encounter. "How you been?" She examined the other two beings, and recognized their faces from pictures in files. A grin was shot at both of them, and Riku returned the gesture while Kairi scowled at the site of Yuffie's hands around Sora's back. "Who are you friends?" Yuffie stepped back and looked into his eyes.

"Oh, this is Riku and Kairi," he explained. They both shook hands with Yuffie. "We were heading to Merlin's, were you?" Maybe Yuffie knew a shortcut so they could avoid the crowds.

Yuffie scoffed at the idea of Merlin's. "Oh, we moved headquarters. We're bunked up at the Bastion now. It's kind of drafty, but at least we're not sleeping on top of each other anymore." She laughed at the thought, and Sora laughed along with her. "C'mon, I know a shortcut."

The three of them followed the ninja to a narrow alleyway, which was occupied by an angry cat and some smelly dumpsters. Riku and Sora helped her lift a manhole cover (okay, they did all the work). A ladder descended into the darkness of the sewers, but it was just the collection of rain water that had fallen into the drains. Unlike the upper world, the sewers were cool and clammy. As they walk along the path next to the running water, nothing disturbed them. No heartless, no nobodies, just them. It was a straight shot to the next ladder, and Yuna crawled up it. The nozzle to open it was worn down and rusty and it hurt her hands every single time she used it. The manhole was pushed open with her bare shoulder and a straining grunt from her mouth, but the sunlight flooded the sewer, making everyone squint their eyes.

They all climbed up the ladder and out onto the postern. Kairi and Riku looked in awe as they watched water that should be running down the dark cliff run up it, but Yuffie and Sora walked towards the corridors without a second glance. The two quickly picked up their lack, not wanting to get lost. Yuffie lead them quickly through the confusing hallways and into a small living room. Aerith was sitting on the couch with a fan pointed at her head while she braided her long hair. She looked up at the others once they entered, but continued to attend to her locks without a word.

"Where's Leon?" Sora questioned as he looked around the room. There was a semi-circle made up of a couch and two lounge chairs, and the circle was completed by a television. It looked fairly old. Aerith's feet rested on a glass coffee table, and a shag purple rug lay under the circle. The room was interesting, but no one occupied it besides Aerith.

"He and Cloud are sparring in the Grand Hall," Aerith said while she examined them. "Hi, I'm Aerith. You're so pretty." She smiled at Kairi, and Kairi whispered an unconfident thank you. Aerith got up, revealing her height to Kairi and Riku, and walked quickly past them, her skirt hitting her legs as she moved. The four followed her, and she stopped at a large glass door. Gold vines ran across it, and through the glass fought Cloud and Leon, though with sparring swords instead of their much deadlier normal weapons.

"They work all the time. We can never get them to have any fun," Yuffie said with a pout before they interrupted the sounds of swords clashing together. The two men changed their focus to the new presences in the room.

"Sora!" Leon grasped the boy's hand after he threw his sparring sword into a pile of weapons. Cloud nodded at the Keybearer, and introduced himself to Kairi by kissing her wrist, much to Sora's dismay. Both of them shook Riku's hand, and after the formalities, they lead the group to Ansem's Study. It had been cleaned up a little bit, and there were many more computers. A large screen was hooked up to the huge one in the middle, and Leon took the seat in front of it. He leaned back and rested his feet on the desk while he typed at the cordless keyboard.

"So, the King told you about what happened, right?" Cloud looked at Sora, who nodded. "Did he read you Leon's report? We had to keep some stuff out, since it was just our thoughts and feelings and such."

"Like what?" Sora was suddenly intrigued with Cloud's words.

"Oh, well, Subject A was definitely Xehanort. But we couldn't include that because we didn't have a reason. We just knew. It was like the room was hell. It was so cold, like he was a ghost. We could tell he was really weak. His voice was all scratchy, and the wound on his shoulder looked like it should have killed him," Cloud explained. "And when we said we didn't know what he was looking for, we knew. Ansem has this locket type thing. We don't know what it is for, but we tried to wear it, and we would go crazy. It makes you think you are the best fighter in the world, and you are the most powerful person as well."

"It makes you an asshole, too," Yuffie commented.

"Yes, that too. Whatever it is for, it is very powerful. We believe it feeds off the lightness in the wearer's heart, and that the darkness gradually takes the person over. One time, Aerith wore it for about two hours, and she pretty much tore me a new asshole with her insults. Which is strange for her," Cloud continued. "Anyway, this locket has to either be in this special case, or be worn by someone, or it will cause a Corridor to Darkness to be opened and Heartless will pour out. So, after Xehanort and Saϊx left, Leon and I decided to sort through the rummage in the morning. But Heartless started appearing, and it was because the locket was out of the case. King Mickey said a lot of things were out of their cases, so it could've been something else. But when we thought about it, we realized Xehanort was holding the locket when we entered the room."

"Did you put the locket away?" Riku asked as he leaned on a desk.

"Oh yes, we locked it up nice and tight," Aerith said. "No one should be able to get it."

The black screen at the front of the room flashed to life, revealing a map of the universe. Each world was visible; a few were brighter than the others. Leon zoomed in to Radiant Gardens. "What's that?" Sora questioned. Even the map on the Gummi Ships didn't look as advanced as Leon's.

"Oh, this is the new World Alert system. Each world has an appointed leader who can send an alert out to this. The alert could be asking for help, or stating the siting of a known enemy, or anything that is official business. Like here, I am the appointed leader. So, I can send an alert out saying that Heartless have invaded Radiant Gardens, and then anyone who also uses this system can see we need help," Leon explained. "You guys can use this so it will help you figure out which world to visit." He handed Sora a disc in a case, which held the program on it.

"Did Cid design it?" Sora questioned.

"Pssh, no, Leon did. He's so brainy," Yuffie said with a smile at the man. Leon turned away so no one could see his barely red face.

"Click on Wonderland, they have an alert," Cloud stated as he noticed the nearby world was lit up. A bubble message popped up, and the computer read, '_From the White Queen; Wonderland has a plethora of Heartless. It is too many for my soldiers to handle. We request help from the King's Army_.'

"Who's in the King's Army?" Kairi questioned.

"There are a lot of people in it, like all of us," Leon stated. "A few others from different worlds, too, like Simba, and Hercules, but they can't transport through the universe. Whenever you see these alerts, it's important to go, because we're all the help that they're going to get."

"Do you guys go to other worlds?" Sora asked, thinking he was the only one who ever went anywhere.

"Sometimes, but the King has to personally give the orders," Yuffie said. There was a moment of silence as the Key Wielders took in the information.

"Do you guys have any Heartless?" Sora looked at Leon, and he shook his head. They had been gone ever since Sora had last visited. "Well, I think we should be headed out." Riku agreed with a small nod, and Kairi just stood there looking at all the technology.

"Wait, we should have some fun before you guys start off. We could go to the lake!" Yuffie exclaimed with a wide grin.

"You guys can go; Cloud and I are going to get back to practicing." Leon and the blonde started to head for the door, but Yuffie stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Aww, Leon, you two never have any fun. You're going to the get hemorrhoids, and ulcers, and all sorts of nasty ailments," Yuffie stated with a serious look on her face.

"We'll be fine," Cloud said with an eye roll.

"Cloud, please come swimming with us. For me," Aerith batted her eyelashes at him, and Cloud agreed with a sigh. Her beautiful features were very hard to resist, and he would not mind seeing her in a swimsuit.

"Alright, I'll stay here and work on the protection system." Leon sat in the swivel chair and began typing at the computer again.

"Squall Leonhart! You are getting off your boring ass and having fun!" Yuffie instructed with a glare as she tried to pull him up, but to no avail. He was too heavy and she was too weak.

"Yeah, Leon, take a break. It's not going to hurt you," Sora joked at him. Leon sighed as he rubbed his eyes with his thumb and pointer finger, and then murmured an okay. Yuffie squealed in excitement, and the seven of them went off to prepare for a day at the lake.

The lake on the castle's ground was not very pretty. It was murky and had algae all over the ground and fish that would brush your leg and freak you out. It was not opened to the public though, so it was like their personal lake. The seven of them were swimming out in the water when Yuffie declared it was a great idea to play chicken.

"What's that?" Innocent Aerith asked.

Yuffie explained the game; two girls get on top of two guys shoulders and then 'fight' with each other until one of them falls off. Aerith and Kairi quickly agreed, and the girls looked at the guys to see who they would be on top of. Sora nodded excitedly, and Cloud also agreed. Riku noticed Leon was not eager to have his head between someone's legs, so he nodded as well.

Kairi quickly swam over to Sora and boarded his shoulders, clutching his hair tightly as he moved around. She was practically squishing his cheeks with her thighs, not like he minded. "Cloud and Aerith, you guys against them, and whoever wins, fights me and Riku, since we're the best ones here," Yuffie said confidently. Everyone else rolled their eyes at the thought of the two being the best, while Leon frowned at the thought of Yuffie hugging Riku's neck with her legs.

Even though Aerith was a very tall girl, Cloud was taller, and he held her easily on his shoulders. She also held his spiky hair as he moved towards Sora and Kairi. The redhead reached out and tried to push the brunette, but Cloud stepped back, moving her out of the other's reach. Aerith squealed at Cloud's quick movement, and Sora took the initiative and stepped towards the pair. Aerith grabbed Kairi's wrists as she tried to push her off again. The two struggled with each other for a bit, and Cloud and Sora were almost nose to nose as they tried to balance their ladies on top of them. Kairi's hand slipped out of Aerith's grasp, and she pulled at her bikini strap, revealing one of her breast. Aerith quickly screamed and fell back into the water, not wanting everyone to see her nakedness.

"Aww yeah!" Kairi held her hands up in fists at her victory as Yuffie tied her friend's bikini again.

"Not fair! You cheated!" Aerith exclaimed with a pout.

"There aren't any rules in chicken," Riku stated factually, and everyone but Aerith agreed with him.

"Cloud, come lay on the beach with me." Aerith pulled on his hand, and the blonde obediently followed her. Once they got to the stick filled beach, they lay behind a tree to hide from any prying eyes.

"Are they going out?" Sora asked Leon, who raised his eyebrow at the Keybearer.

"They're engaged," Yuffie said with a dreamy sigh. "It's so cute."

"Wait, how old are you guys?" Riku asked with a confused face.

"Oh, I'm 19, Aerith is 21, Leon's 25, and Cloud's 24," Yuffie explained as she counted the names off on her fingers. "Anyway, let's get to beating these motherfuckers." Riku crouched down so Yuffie could get on his shoulders, and then the fight began. Yuffie threw punches at Kairi instead of just pushes, and Kairi caught a few before they hit her body. She wasn't punching too hard though, and Kairi landed a slap on her face. Yuffie returned the slap, and Kairi held the mark on her cheek. She switched tactics, and kicked Riku in the face. Riku's hand went to his nose as blood flowed out, and Yuffie hit the water as she fell off his shoulders.

"Ow! Kairi, what the fuck!" Riku's nose was gushing blood as Kairi and Sora rejoiced in victory. Kairi was a cheerleader, and played volleyball, and was on swim team, so she had very strong legs. The silverette waded towards the beach as he tipped his head back. Aerith used some healing magik on him, and the blood flow quit. Riku's nose was not broken, but he was prone to nosebleeds, and it was easily brought out with a hit.

"Rematch!" Yuffie declared as she glared up at Kairi. She glanced at Leon, and instructed him to come hither with her fingers. Leon raised his eyebrows, but obeyed. The ninja jumped on his broad shoulders and ran her fingers through his brown hair. Leon clutched her knees to his chest and looked up at her with a smile, which she easily returned.

They were interrupted by Sora and Kairi charging towards them, and Leon ducked out of the way. Sora almost slipped on some algae, but Kairi held tight to his hair. He spun around to face Leon and Yuffie, and the girls sent many slaps at each other. Leon decided to let go of Yuffie's leg for a moment and tickle the underside of Kairi's petite foot, which caused the redhead to let out a scream. She squirmed off Sora's shoulders and hit the water with a splash. Yuffie and Leon whooped in victory while Sora and Kairi swam to the shore. Leon flipped Yuffie forward off his shoulders, and Yuffie splashed angrily at him. Leon clutched her between his arms as she squirmed around, trying to splash him. She finally gave up and returned his hug. "I'm glad you decided to have some fun today," she whispered to him, and he smiled into her neck as he held her tightly. They returned to the beach to join the others.

It was dark by the time the three Key Wielders left the world. The seven of them enjoyed some fire roasted hot dogs and s'mores, and they even told ghost stories to each other. Kairi caught a glimpse of Aerith's engagement ring, and it looked like it cost Cloud at least 7000 munny. They promised to return to the Gardens on a regular basis as they left for the Gummi Hangar, and Kairi and Riku were pretty happy that Sora had such great allies already.


	8. Down the Rabbit Hole

Sora stepped out on to the perfectly trimmed grass and looked around at the English garden. It did not look at all like the Wonderland he remembered. Everything was affected by gravity and was the correct color. Riku raised a confused eyebrow at him. "Where's Wonderland?" he questioned, which Sora responded to with a shrug. Kairi examined the vast gardens, and pointed at a white English mansion rising above it on a hill. There was a maze to weave through, and it appeared that a party was happening on the patio. It was not wise to be noticed by many in a world like this.

"We should find Alice," Sora commented, and started to venture into the maze. Upon entering, the patio and house disappeared behind the walls. Riku immediately touched his right hand to the hedge, and Kairi questioned what he was doing.

"If you touch the right wall at all times, you will eventually exit the maze," he stated. "Not that this maze is very big, but we shouldn't risk it. We could really be in Wonderland right now, and the perfect little garden we are seeing could just be an illusion."

"This place sounds sketch," she said with a concerned frown.

"You have no idea," Riku and Sora concluded in unison.

The three continued on through the maze, and finally came to a fountain with a swan fixture spouting water in the middle. A blonde hair girl sat across the water feature with her back to them. She was dressed in a pale pink dress with a white undercoat. The corset around her already petite waist looked almost painful with how tightly it was tied. She was trying to fix her white headband that had become untied due to the horrid wind. She spun quickly around when Sora called her name, and a wide grin fell on her girlish features. She exclaimed his name and quickly ran into his arms, jumping up as she hugged him. She was obviously at least two years younger than Sora, but she was so excited to see him that it was quite clear to both Riku and Kairi that she was infatuated with the Keybearer.

"Alice, are we in Wonderland right now?" Sora questioned the younger girl as she let go of him. She continued to grasp his hands in hers though, still beaming.

"Oh, Sora, no! This is 'real life', I suppose. At least for me!" she said with her continuing smile. She examined the two companions with him, and noticed Kairi fuming angrily and Riku trying to hold back a laugh. Even though the silverette had visited Wonderland a few times, he never encountered Alice. And who was this…girl? "Who are your friends, Sora?"

"This is Riku and Kairi. Alice, we really need to get to Wonderland. The White Queen set out an alert that Heartless have invaded, and she needs our help," Sora explained. He was trying to escape her hands, but she had a tight grip, so he just held his hands limply in hers.

"I shall take you there!" Alice looped her arm in Sora's as she walked down a path in the maze. Riku and Kairi followed behind, and Kairi was giving Riku a glare as if he should do something. He sent her a small chortle in return. "Today's is a wonderful day for a visit to Wonderland. My parents are holding my 'betrothal' party. The lad is rich and all, but he is just so hideous, and so boring. It's like talking to a pillow! Thank god we do not have to marry until I'm 18, which is four years away. Possibly by then I can find a better gentleman all by myself." Sora pretended to be interested in Alice's love life. He looked back at Kairi, who sent him a hateful glare. He shrugged helplessly. Apologizes would be said later. Alice was not the type of girl you wanted to anger.

They finally reached the rabbit hole. Alice grabbed Sora's hand as the two jumped in with a whoop. Kairi looked at Riku. "Have you done this before?" she questioned as she frowned at the darkness of the hole.

"No," he said and gave her a nervous look. "Looks like Sora might have been down a few more of Alice's holes though." He laughed loudly at his own joke, but Kairi's scowl made him quit.

"Is Sora a virgin?" Kairi asked as she frowned sadly at the thought.

"Uh, you know that answer already," Riku stated. "Of course he's a virgin. Saving it from someone special, I think. We should go though, because they're probably way ahead of us by now." Riku prepared to step into the hole, but Kairi stopped him before he could jump.

"Can I hold your hand?" she asked with a blush. "I'm scared." Riku offered her his rough hand, and she gladly took it as they both jumped into the hole. It was immediately dark, and the sound of rushing wind made her grasp onto Riku's jacket. Riku's strong arms wrapped tightly around his friend; he did not want to lose her in the darkness. The impending doom of falling was quickly replaced by the feeling of zero gravity. Kairi opened her eyes as a lamp bumped into her head. She exclaimed in pain as they examined their surroundings. The tunnel was filled floating furniture, and the walls were covered of portraits seemingly belonging to a rabbit family. She settled for just holding Riku's hand as a feeling of calmness washed over the two. The tranquility faded away as a checkered floor appeared to be rushing towards them, but they landed softly on the surface.

They were located in a long hallway, and the door at the end appeared very large and foreboding compared to the others. This seemed like the obvious path, so Riku chose it for the both of them. As they walked down the corridor, the door became smaller and smaller. By the time they reached it, they had to get on their hands and knees to crawl through. In the room was a small glass table with some bottles and cookies, a large mirror leading into some sort of garden, and then a tiny door. Riku got on all fours to open it, but it was locked. "Shit!" he exclaimed. "It's locked!"

"Open it with your keyblade," Kairi said with a hand on her hip.

"Uh, that's Sora, not me," Riku explained. "I can't do that shit."

"That tickles!" The door suddenly laughed, and Riku stood up with a jolt. The door had come alive, including eyes and a mouth. "A boy named Sora came through me with Alice just a few moments ago! He unlocked me with ease! What a talented young man!"

"Why didn't he wait for us?" Kairi questioned, as if the door would know.

"He told me to stay unlocked for the two of you, but Alice secretly locked me as they walked through," the door said with a smile.

"Oh my god, that whore!" Kairi glared at the door, and the door raised his eyebrows at her language.

"How do we unlock you, kind sir?" Riku asked with a sigh. The door looked up at the ceiling, and a key was quite visibly hanging down from the chandelier. "And we get up there, how?" The door then looked at the food items at the table. Riku recalled a time where Sora had told him not to eat anything in Wonderland, but he used his better judgment to decide this time was an exception.

There were two choices on the table; a vile of pink liquid stating 'Drink me!' and a cookie labeled 'Eat me!' Riku handed Kairi the cookie, and held the pink vile to his lips, which he only drank a drop of. Before he knew it, he was looking up at the twenty foot Kairi and was small enough to easily fit through the door now. Kairi grabbed the key from the chandelier, and reached down for the vile in Riku's hand. She drank the rest of it and became the same size as he. The door laughed as the key tickled his doorknob, and he opened into a dark forest. Kairi pocketed the cookie, which she had only taken a bite of. Maybe next time she saw Alice, she could eat the rest and squish her like an ant.

"Which way do you think they went?" Riku said, interrupting Kairi's thoughts. There were three paths to pick, and Kairi had no idea which way they could have gone. Why wouldn't Sora wait for them? It was so inconsiderate; she would have to beat him up later for it. She decided the far right path was a good choice, because it was the only one that appeared to exit the dark forest. The two teens began to follow it and it lead to a flowery meadow filled with every color of the rainbow. Several birdlike creatures flew across the flowers, and they appeared as normal Wonderland beings. But a group of them descended towards Riku and Kairi, and as they got closer the Key Wielders noticed the Heartless emblems on their chests.

The group of Air Soldiers surrounded them, and Riku and Kairi were back to back with their keyblades in hand. Riku cast a thunder spell, and the Heartless fluttered around from the shock. The two teens took the opportunity to jump out into the fray. Way to Dawn took out Heartless with one swing in a poof of darkness, but Kairi had to stab at them several times before they faded away. An Air Soldier scratched his red claws across Kairi's bare shoulder, and she swung angrily at it as the blood dripped down to her elbow. It fell to the ground before disappearing, and Riku killed a Heartless before it could stab at the back of Kairi's head. The two were sweating by the time all of the Heartless had been destroyed.

"Ow," Kairi muttered as she brought her hand up to her shoulder. Her blood quickly painted her petite fingers red. She looked up at Riku who was holding a bottle of green liquid in his hand, and he told her to drink it. The redhead took it with her free hand and pressed it to her lips. The taste was nauseous, but she downed it all as instructed. After consumption, she examined her shoulder. All that was left was a light scar.

The path along the meadow continued on the hill for a while, but it soon dipped back down into the forest. They encountered a few more groups of Heartless, but not enough that it seemed like an invasion. Their walk seemed like it lasted for hours. Soon, the sun was setting behind the horizon. Howls and growls filled the forest, and Kairi found herself grabbing at Riku's arm every time something made her jump. After the umpteenth time, Riku asked her if she would like to stop walking and find somewhere to sleep.

"N-no. We should find Sora," Kairi said as she stared into the darkness of the trees, looking for yellow eyes to peer back at her.

"He can handle himself," Riku responded as he sat on a low protruding branch. He pulled a bag of chips out of his pack and offered Kairi another. She realized she was in fact hungry when her stomach rumbled like the beasts lurking in the dark. Even after they both ate the chips and a cold can of beans, their hunger was not satisfied.

Kairi's thoughts of food were interrupted when she saw two yellows eyes staring down at them from behind Riku's head. She screamed immediately and put her head into Riku's shoulder, hoping she had just been seeing things. Her hopes were crushed when Riku stood up and summoned his weapon. "Who's there?" he yelled into the dark. He had heard the breathing of an animal, not a Heartless.

A fat purple cat appeared on the ground in front of them in the sight of Riku's flashlight, and bowed graciously to the silverette. Riku raised a suspicious eyebrow at the animal. "Who are you?" he questioned.

"The question is; who are you?" the cat countered as it appeared again on a branch above their heads.

"Uhmm…I'm Riku, and this is Kairi," he said with a sound of uncertainty in his voice.

"Joyous! What brings you to Wonderland?" The cat put his paws underneath his chin as if holding his head up.

"We are Key Wielders. The White Queen said there was an invasion of Heartless, and she needs our help," Kairi suddenly blurted out. Maybe this strange feline had seen Sora and that Alice girl.

The cat's laughs filled the forest. "What? There are a few Heartless here, but none that the Queen's soldiers cannot handle alone. It seems as if someone has falsely alerted you!" The cat chortled again at their stupidity.

"Alice!" Kairi said with a flush of anger.

"I have seen that girl just a few hours ago, in this very forest. She was with a boy….Sora, was his name. He was obviously under the influence of a love potion," the feline said with a thoughtful look.

"What?" Kairi glared angrily at the animal, and he shrunk back in fear.

"Kairi, shut up!" Riku glared at her for scaring the cat, and she glared back. "Sir, why would Alice give him a love potion? Is there a reason that she would want him here, or any of us?"

The cat pondered the question. "Ahh!" he exclaimed at his moment of realization. "The White Queen is holding a banquet in which she will crown Alice the princess of Wonderland. But, Alice needed to bring a prince, or a hero, as her guest. The reason of that is; a princess cannot be crowned without a spouse. So, I am assuming that Alice attends to marry Sora at the banquet tomorrow! But of course, Sora would not agree to this alone. Alice fed him the love potion so he would love her!"

Kairi was red with fury as the cat talked. "Is there any way that we can stop this?" Riku asked as he tried to ignore Kairi's emotions.

"You yourselves could acquire a love potion, and slip it to Sora at the banquet before they get married. And then I suggest you hightail it out of Wonderland. I in fact know of a place where you could get one," the cat said. "Continue on this path, and you will find it!" He disappeared in a puff of purple smoke, and Riku looked down at Kairi.

She started to yell angrily at him, and Riku ignored her exclamations by walking down the dark wooded trail. A table appeared almost suddenly as they turned a corner. Lanterns lighted the area, and the long table was set as if for many guests, but only three beings took seats at it. At the head of the table sat a man with a tall green hat. To his right sat a brown rabbit dressed in an overcoat, and on the table was a dormouse in a teapot. They were all talking at once before Riku and Kairi arrived, but then the three pairs of eyes snapped to the two.

"Greetings!" the man said with a wide grin. "Join us!" Two extra chairs appeared out of thin air, and the two teens sat at them. They introduced themselves politely to the three gentlemen.

"I am Hatter, this is Hare, and that is the Dormouse!" the man almost screamed at them. "Would you like some tea?" Both Riku and Kairi nodded, and a hot steamy teapot poured the liquid into their dainty cups. The Hatter passed them a tray of biscuits and cookies, and the two quickly devoured them. "What brings you to our tea party?"

"This grinning cat said you had a love potion," Kairi said through a mouthful of cookies.

"Cheshire was correct, we do have a love potion," the Hare responded. "We will give it to you if you stay at our tea party, at least for the night. We never have any guests." He frowned sadly at his teacup. Both the Key Wielders agreed. The Hatter rushed off to the small cottage behind the table, and returned with a heart shaped vile filled with purple liquid.

"All you have to do is put a single strand of your hair into it, and then slip it to your victim. They will certainly be head over heels for you, but it does not last a lifetime, only 72 hours. But, if you can make them fall in love with you truly during that time, then perhaps they will love you afterwards. Most of the time though, they just despise you," the Hatter grimaced at his last words, but then smiled as he handed the vile to Riku.

After a few more cups of tea and cookies, Kairi and Riku could not recall what happened that night. Riku remembered the Hatter singing ridiculous songs, and that the five of them would laugh suddenly at nothing. He did not recall falling asleep. Later on, he suspected that the food and drink contained some sort of drug.

Riku awoke at the sound of birds tweeting and the sun shining through his eyelids. Kairi and he lay on top of the table, and her head rested soundly on his chest. She was wrapped tightly in his arms. The sight of this made Riku sit up immediately, and Kairi woke up with a start. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and examined Riku. The three others were continuing their party, besides the two humans sleeping on their table. The purple love potion was held in Riku's left hand, and Kairi went to pluck a hair out of her head.

"Wait, you already placed your hair into the vile!" the Hatter yelled at her. "If you put too many hairs, the love potion will hurt the drinker!" Kairi nodded sleepily at the Hatter, but she could not remember ever doing what he said. Riku helped her off the table, and they bid goodbye to the tea partiers. Their farewell was ignored as their laughing was too loud to talk over.

The forest was not as dark as it was the night before. The sunlight shone through the branches generously, lighting their path. Soon, a beautiful white castle was visible above the tree tops. A long drawbridge to the domain was guarded by Spade Cards. They stepped aside for the Key Wielders without saying a word.

Inside the castle's main hall, a party was going on. There was food everywhere, and many guests lined the table. The Cheshire Cat held his wine glass up to Riku and Kairi as they spotted him. At the front of the room was the Queen's table, and next to the beautiful creature sat Alice and Sora. Alice still had her wits about her, but Sora was visibly drunk, even from across the room. He was staring lovingly at Alice, but then she got up and left the room through a back door. Riku took the chance to take her seat, and Sora stared blankly at him.

"Where did Alice go?" He questioned his best friend, and Riku shrugged. The silverette pointed at the dancers doing insane flips to distract Sora, and poured the love potion into his goblet when the brunette looked away.

"Sora, cheers!" Riku held up Alice's goblet to Sora's, and both of them tipped the drink back into their throats. Riku discovered Alice was drinking grape juice. He examined Sora after he had drunk all of his wine, and picked his friend up by the shoulders and led him away from the table. Sora followed him in confusion, and looked blankly at Kairi as she joined them as they exited the room.

Halfway across the drawbridge, Sora threw up into the moat. Kairi patted him on the back and asked if he was okay. The brunette stared at her in fear, and told her that he felt really sick. Kairi looked worryingly at Riku, and so did Sora. But as he laid his eyes on the silverette, his fear fell away and revealed googily eyes. Sora ran up to his friend and hugged him with all his strength. "Oh, Riku, I missed you so much!" the Keybearer exclaimed as he tried to kiss Riku on the cheek.

Riku quickly pushed Sora away. "Dude, what the fuck?" he yelled at him, and Sora frowned at Riku's rejection. Riku looked at Kairi with confusion. "Did you put your hair in the potion?"

"I thought I did!" she exclaimed, trying to remember when she had done the task.

Their conversation was stopped when a very angry scream was heard from inside the castle, and then they started to run. The Spade guards tried to stand in their way, but Riku and Kairi swung at them with their keyblades. Riku abandoned the path in the forest and ran directly through the bushes. He began panting after about fifteen minutes of a full out spring, and leaned up against an old tree. Kairi and Sora were panting too.

"Why are we running?" Sora questioned as he looked lovingly into Riku's eyes.

"Uh, Alice is a crazy bitch and she wants to marry you," Kairi explained as she glared at him. "And you went with her, and didn't wait for us, and I should punch you in the fucking stomach!" She held her fist up at him and Sora scooted away from her with a fearful look on his face.

"I would never marry Alice!" he exclaimed as he cowered from Kairi. "I love him." He pointed at Riku and smiled at him. Riku sighed in exasperation.

"Kairi, we must have put my hair in the potion." Kairi quickly agreed with him.

"Duh, I don't think Sora would become gay in five minutes," she said as she examined Sora for signs of harm. He looked just fine. He even wore some fancy robes over his normal attire, and it looked like he had showered today. He probably looked much better than her or Riku. The hollers of the Queen's soldiers became audible though, and Kairi looked desperately at Riku. He didn't really expect her to run all the way back to the Gummi Ship.

A Corridor of Darkness appeared as Riku raised his hand up. Sora stared cowardly at it. "What's that?" he probed in fear.

"Move," Riku instructed as he pushed the Keybearer through the portal. Kairi followed behind them, and soon they were in a beautiful tunnel of swirling clouds. Sora was shaking in horror.

"Riku, can I hold your hand?" he questioned innocently.

"No," the other boy responded quickly. Sora frowned up at him in disappointment.

"Please, I'm scared," he explained. Riku sighed once again, and held his hand out for his best friend. Sora eagerly took it with a smile. Kairi was laughing her ass off at the sight.

"I wish I had my phone. This should be on Facebook," she said through her laughs. Riku sent a glare at her as he dragged Sora through the other portal. Once they stepped through, the Gummi Ship's living room surrounded them. Riku quickly closed the portal and pulled his hand out of Sora's.

"Get us out of here," he commanded the younger boy. Sora obediently sat down at the controls and sent the ship off into space. He smiled at Riku after finishing his task, and held his arms out for a hug. Riku felt a bit sorry for his friend, and stepped into his arms. Sora's hands did not go to Riku's back though. Instead, they fell on his cheeks, and pulled Riku in for a big smooch. Riku's fist meant Sora's chin and the brunette fell backwards out cold onto the floor.


	9. Official

**A/N: Thanks again for all the reviews, favorites, and subscribing. If you favorited or subscribed without reviewing, please do so. I'd really like to know what you think!**

Sora awoke in his bed with a start. His jaw immediately hurt, and he looked around the dark bedroom he shared with Riku. His best friend was nowhere to be seen. His head was pounding, and the last thing he could remember was jumping down the rabbit hole with Alice. The red numbers on his alarm clock read 3:44, and Sora decided to go looking for Riku.

The silverette was sitting on the couch watching Pineapple Express and eating Milano cookies. His green eyes examined Sora as he entered the living room, and was relieved when the brunette did not sit next to him immediately and try to cuddle with him or some other weird shit. "Don't those not go with your protein diet or whatever?" Sora questioned as he pointed at the cookies. Riku shrugged, and continued to shove one more in his mouth. The seat next to him was taken by Sora, but he sat at a reasonable distance. "What the hell happened in Wonderland? Did we get rid of the Heartless? I can't remember anything…"

"Oh, there wasn't Heartless," Riku started. "I mean, there was, but not an 'invasion.' Alice just wanted your dick, so she fed you some love potion shit to marry you."

Sora stared at Riku with concern as he absorbed the information. "Wait…what?" he questioned once again.

"Yeah, she gave you love potion, and you totally ditched me and Kairi for a day. Then, this Hatter guy gave _us _a love potion to counteract Alice's, and we got super fucked at his tea party. Then, we were at this banquet thing where you were going to marry Alice so she could be a princess, and we gave you the love potion. And Kairi thought she put her hair in it so you would love her, but I guess we really put my hair in it because we were shitfaced. So maybe we thought it would be funny or something. Then, the soldiers chased us out of Wonderland, and you tried to mack on me, so I punched you in this face, and you've been out for three days." Riku tried to examine Sora for his response, but Sora just stared at him. Then the shock took over his features.

"What? We made out? I was in a coma?" Sora immediately rushed to the bathroom and proceeded to brush his tongue and teeth furiously. Riku clarified that they did not make out, but Sora did in fact try. He offered his cheek for Sora's fist, but Sora refused as he was too busy washing his mouth out with soap.

The two boys stopped their conversing as the redhead stepped into the doorway of the restroom, rubbing her eyes sleepily and wearing an oversized t-shirt. "Sora, you're awake," she said matter-of-factly. Riku yawned and retreated to his bed, finally feeling safe enough to sleep without getting attacked by Sora. Plus, Kairi and Sora probably needed some alone time.

"Hi, Kai," Sora said as he examined her. "How are you?"

"Tired," she returned. "Come to my room with me." She pouted her lip out at him, and Sora followed her to her bedroom like a puppy dog. Unlike Riku and Sora who both slept in single beds, Kairi had a large queen bed in her room. It was kind of a plus to be the only girl, and therefore needing your own room. Kairi sat Indian style in the middle of her bed, and Sora joined her. She instantly wrapped her arms around his neck. "I missed you," she whispered into his hair.

Sora embraced her as well, and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Kairi, did Alice really give me a love potion?" he asked her. Kairi unraveled their hug and looked strangely at him.

"Wow, Riku wasn't supposed to say anything," she said with a sigh. "Yeah, she gave you a love potion. It was stupid."

"I'm sorry I tried to make out with Riku," he suddenly apologized, and Kairi laughed at his words.

"You weren't yourself. Besides, it's not like you're my boyfriend or anything…" Her smile faded into a frown at her words. When she looked up at him again, he seemed to be very interested in the posters on her wall. "It was so shitty, because that Alice girl was all over you, and I couldn't say anything. And I really wanted to, but what would I say? 'Hey, you, get your slutty hands off my…friend? Off my friend with benefits?' I don't even know what to call us…"

Sora looked down at her, and smiled at her. "Kairi…you're the only girl I want. Anyway, Alice is fourteen years old. That's just gross," he explained. Kairi giggled at his disgust, and he joined in her laughter. He hugged her once again, this time a little bit tighter. "Kairi, will you be my girlfriend?" he whispered into her ear.

Kairi pretended to think about his question, but really she had knew that answer for a very long time. "Of course," she responded into his ear, and kissed him lightly on the lobe. She then turned to look into his eyes, and pressed her lips against his. She had really missed his kiss; even though the last time she had experienced it was just four days ago. Her tongue slithered into his mouth as soon as his lips parted. He tasted very minty. Soon, their kiss escalated. Kairi pushed Sora onto his back and straddled his hips. Their lips parted as they moved, and he raised his eyebrow at her advances.

"Take your shirt off," she almost commanded, but still smiled sweetly at him. Sora's red shirt was easily taken off his torso, and Kairi looked down at his chest. His boyish body was far gone, replaced by his muscle training. Growing pecks were visible under his breast bone, and his abs were starting to become defined. Kairi's marveling was interrupted by a knock on the door. Both of them looked in that direction, and Riku cracked the door open.

"Uh, I'm going to bed, so please don't bother me," he said to Sora. He then noticed their position, and smirked at the two. "I don't know what you guys are doing, but there are condoms in the bathroom." With that he shut the door to go curl up in his bed.

Kairi looked down at Sora, and blushed. "He's just messing around," Sora commented on his friend's behavior. Kairi's delicate hands fell from her cheeks to his abdomen and started rubbing up and down his chest. His face turned from the tan usual to a cherry red flush. "What are you doing?" he questioned as he looked in to her sunset eyes.

"You have a really nice chest," Kairi observed, and smiled under her own flush. Sora murmured a thank you, and mentioned how it wasn't very fair that he was the only one in the room with his shirt off. Kairi giggled timidly at his words. "You **don't** want to see me. You'll probably barf." Her insecurities made Sora scowl.

"I seriously doubt that," he said. "I'm sure you have a naked body like a goddess. Even when you're in a bikini you still make me sweat." Kairi was almost about to faint from his compliments, and her cheeks were as red as her hair. She removed her hands from his torso and placed them on her hips.

"Now, Sora, you really don't expect me to get naked on the first night that you ask me out," she scolded jokingly. "I am a respectful lady." Sora laughed at her facial expression, and Kairi laughed along with him. "But seriously, I have B-sized boobs. That's not very big."

"Well, it would look really weird if you had double D's with your tiny body. At least you are proportionate," Sora replied. "And I really like your boobs." Kairi laughed timidly once again.

"You've never seen them, so how would you like something you've never even seen?" she questioned shyly.

"Because I like you," he countered with a huge smile. Kairi grinned back down at him, and leaned down to press her lips against his. In the process, her whole body was rubbing against his bare chest. Their tongues swirled around in each other's mouths, and Kairi moaned quietly into him. Sora was trying so hard to control himself, but after her sound of pleasure he just couldn't help it anymore. Kairi scooted back to reach his lips better, and felt a hardness hit the back of her thigh. Sora closed his eyes in shame as she pulled away from the kiss.

"What's wrong?" he heard her sweet voice question him. He opened one eye to look up at her.

"I'm sorry," he answered, and Kairi raised an eyebrow at him.

"Why are you sorry?" she asked, getting impatient.

"Uh…." Sora started. "For getting…" He blushed and put his hands on her hips, trying to pull her up his chest. She was practically sitting on his erection; there was no way she couldn't notice, especially in his attire of basketball shorts. Kairi held her position steadily though, and pushed away when Sora tried to direct her. Her movements around his hips made his dick twitch, and Sora glared at her. Kairi glared jokingly back at him, and then moved her hips in a tantalizing circle. Sora was red with embarrassment and pleasure as she moved. "What are you doing?"

"Teasing you," she said as she stuck her tongue out at him and moved in another circle. He would not allow this to go on any further, and he pulled her forcefully to his mouth. Kairi felt something new enter their kiss, and she tried to pinpoint the feeling. It was like Sora wanted her, no, _needed_ her. She enjoyed this emotion, and ground against his boner once again. He moaned into her mouth.

This teasing got to be too much for Sora once Kairi rubbed against him one more time, and he flipped her over onto her back. She squealed at the impact, and Sora quickly placed himself between her spread legs before she could move. He kissed her lightly on the lips, and Kairi lifted her chin up for more kisses when he moved his head back. He denied her actions by placing his lips on her jawbone. Her little gasp of pleasure encouraged him as he nibbled lightly on her skin. His kisses traveled down her neck to right above her collarbone, and he began to softly suck on her succulent skin. Her low moan provoked him further. He began to suck feverishly, and the little pain that Kairi felt made her even hotter.

Sora's hand slid from her waist to her breast, and gently needed the tissue beneath her shirt. Kairi cried delicately in desire. His lips traveled farther down her body, and were now sucking on the beginning of her breast right underneath her collar bone. She sighed with want as his hand abandoned her boob and went back down to her hips. Surprise took her over as his fingers rubbed the inside of her thigh, and then she gasped when he placed his index and middle finger on the fabric covering her pussy.

A sudden feeling of fear came up inside Kairi's brain, and she quickly sat up. Sora looked questioningly at her, and read the distress in her face. He frowned and apologized for his forwardness. Kairi recovered from her moment, and smiled at Sora. "It's ok, but let's not go any further tonight," she said reassuringly. Sora understood her words, and nodded at her. "I should go to bed." Her kitty alarm clock read 4:27, and that was definitely past her bed time. "Stay with me." Kairi fluttered her eyelashes at him, and Sora agreed, even though he wasn't one bit tired.

Kairi quickly covered herself with the covers, and Sora joined her underneath him. "Let's cuddle fuddle," she asked him, and Sora laughed at her.

"Do you know what that means?" he questioned as she turned her back to him. Sora scooted closer and rested his arm on her waist, holding her hand from behind her.

"Doesn't it mean what we are doing right now?" Sora smiled at her innocence.

"No, this is spooning. I'm the big spoon, and you're the little spoon. Cuddle fuddling is when you have sex in this position," he answered. Kairi blushed at his words, and she was silent for a few moments as she closed her eyes. Sora had thought she had fallen asleep.

"Let's do that someday," she whispered, perhaps in her sleep. Sora nodded into her hair, and smiled. Kairi was completely still after that. Her breathing slowed down, and her mouth twitched at a dream. Sora watched her sleeping for at least half an hour, but soon he became restless. He slipped gently out of her bed and exited her room.

When he entered his own room, he noticed Riku was fast asleep in his bed. His friend's computer was on though, and it played some porn. Sora did Riku the favor of removing the laptop from his lap and turning it off. The turquoise eyes fluttered open at the movement, and he examined Sora tiredly.

"Jacking off, eh?" Sora questioned, and Riku shook his head at him. Sora laughed at Riku's guilty smile though, and fell onto his own bed with a dreamy sigh.

"What happened?" Riku's voice made Sora open his eyes, and he stared at him from across the dark room.

"I asked her out," he answered.

"Boring, I meant what _happened_," Riku returned, glaring at the amount of information Sora was holding back.

Sora told him all the dirty details, and Riku frowned at the thought of Kairi stopping everything when it was just getting warmed up. "Sounds like she's a prude," he commented as Sora finished.

"Not every girl is easy," Sora returned. "And those are usually the best girls."

"Yeah, because you've been with _so_ many girls. You must know everything," Riku joked.

"Har har," Sora laughed sarcastically. "I bet CiCi wasn't sucking your dick the first day you met her, am I right?"

Riku laughed at the thought. "No, but she also cheated on me."

"Whatever, you know what I mean," Sora retorted. "I would be disappointed if Kairi put out the first day I asked her out. I actually hope that she wants to wait to lose her virginity for a long time."

Riku was silent as he pondered Sora's word. "Do you really hope that?" he laughed.

"Well, not a _long_ time, but a reasonable amount of time," Sora answered. "Like Tidus and Selphie, they didn't have sex until they were dating for a year and a half. That's too long. Maybe like six months would be a good time."

"I was dating CiCi for three months when we had sex," Riku recalled. "But you and Kairi are different. You are both totally in love with each other already, so it will just be a matter of time before you're jumping each other's bones."

Sora laughed at Riku's thoughts, and then felt tiredness creep up on him. "Good night," he said to his friend, and Riku returned the gesture. It was quiet for a while, but the sound of Riku's shallow breathing soon filled the room. Sora quickly followed into the realm of dreams as sleep overtook his heavy eyes.


	10. Prydain Part 1

Kairi awoke to an empty bed, which didn't really surprise her. She knew Sora would be reckless after three days of sleep. She left her room, feeling her gut rumble for some breakfast, and met Sora and Riku staring at the Gummi Ship's map. Kairi helped herself to some already cooked eggs and French toast before sitting on the couch behind them. "Where are we going now?" she questioned them both.

"We think we should go to this world called….Pry-dain," Riku said, struggling to pronounce it. "The dark readings from there are off the charts. Probably a lot of Heartless."

"I'm just going to guess with your pronunciation that you've never been there before," Kairi suggested.

"Neither of us has. In fact, it's an uncharted world. No one has been there before, or at least, no one has recorded going there," Sora joined the conversation. He looked at Kairi dip her French toast in her sunny side up eggs, and wanted to laugh at the yolk dripping down her chin. Kairi peered up from her food to look at him, and he sent her a smile.

"I've been there before," she commented, and both of the boys gave her a confused look. "I mean, I don't really remember, but I've definitely been to Prydain before." She pronounced it correctly, and Sora and Riku shrugged hopelessly at each other.

"Maybe Naminé went there with the Organization, and she just remembers that," Riku determined, and Sora nodded at his conclusion. Riku turned around to examine Kairi eating his food, and he laughed at her neck. "Nice hickey, Kairi."

She frowned at him through her mouthful of food. "Shut the fuck up," she muttered as she left to take a shower.

/

The Gummi Ship landed in a clearing, surrounded by a forest of trees. Sora made note of the ship's position before they began to venture out into the woodland. The weather in Prydain was very pleasant, at least in this forest. They walked through the woods for a few hours, and met no Heartless. Soon, the sounds of animals filled the air, and a farm came into view at the edge of the forest. It held livestock they had all seen before; pigs, cows, chickens. A boy of about the same age as them was swinging a wooden sword around in the farm's main yard, and he suddenly stopped in embarrassment at the sight of the three standing behind the gate.

"Who goes there?" the boy asked. He had shaggy auburn hair and dark brown eyes that stared at them as if they were a threat.

Sora introduced the three of them. The boy examined them from head to toe one more time, and stepped towards the gate, and opened it for them. "I am Taran. Are you here to see Dallben?" he questioned. Most visitors to the farm came to see the enchanter. Even though Sora had no clue who this Dallben character was, he nodded, hoping to figure out what this world's problem was. Taran led the three to the hut in the middle of the farm, and walked in before them. He exited the hut a few moments later, stating Dallben was ready to see them.

The man was sitting on a round cushion, staring at the wall of the hut. The small room was occupied by very many strange objects, and two beds. Dallben turned around to examine the Key Wielders, and Sora was surprised at how old he looked. He had a beard that reached the floor and then wrapped around several times in a circle. The elder smiled at the three, and told them to take a seat. Then, three cushions similar to Dallben's appeared in a circle, and the teens took a seat.

"You are warriors of the Light," the enchanter commented as he peered up at a wind chime. "You came to this realm because you could feel the darkness in it."

"Yes, we did. What troubles this World? Is there anything we could do to help?" Sora asked the old man, and he immediately looked deep into Sora's eyes, making the Keybearer feel very uncomfortable.

"The Horned King is trying to steal my pig, Hen Wen. He thinks she can help him find the Black Cauldron, which can create the Cauldron-Born. They are undead slaves, and he plans to use them to rule the world. I told the assistant pig-keeper, Taran, to take Hen Wen to safety. He is a good lad, but his head is always in the clouds," Dallben explained. "I think you three should accompany Taran."

"Why would the Horned King think that your pig will help him?" Kairi probed. The last time she checked pigs were just ordinary, smelly farm animals.

"Hen Wen is an oracular pig," Dallben said matter-of-factly. "Now, go help the boy. He needs all of it that he can get."

When the three found Taran, he was caring for a cute, rosy pink pig. She snorted sweetly at the approaching Key Wielders, and Taran turned to look at them. "Dallben said we should come with you to take Hen Wen to shelter," Sora clarified. Taran shrugged at his suggestion and grabbed Hen Wen in a blanket. She squealed happily at the warmth, and cuddled up to his arms when he lifted her up.

"Aww, can I hold her?" Kairi cued at the animal. He handed the red head the piggy, and Hen Wen wagged her little curly tail. Kairi giggled at her snorting nose as they began to venture into the forest.

"She likes you," Taran noticed as the pig fell asleep in Kairi's arm. She smiled at his words, and Sora decided to interrupt their conversation when Taran smiled back at her.

"Who's the Horned King?" he asked. The ruler did not sound like a very fun guy.

"He rules Prydain at the moment, but he's not a good man. Dallben says he thinks one day, a great warrior will arise and defeat the Horned King, will become King himself, and rule Prydain with a good heart," Taran said, remembering Dallben's tale from the thousands of times the enchanter had told him it. A look of longing crossed Taran's face, and Sora recognized it immediately. Yearning for greatness and fame was an all too familiar feeling to him, and he wanted to tell the boy to be careful what he wished for.

Sora was interrupted before he even began to talk. The bushes on the wooded trail shook with movement, and hooded soldiers and Heartless erupted onto the path. Keyblades flashed in the sunlight immediately, and Riku and Sora jumped onto their enemies before they made the first move. The clash of metal filled the silent air, and Kairi handed Hen Wen to Taran so she could join into the noise. The fight continued, and a few soldiers stumbled away clutching their wounded bodies, but there was too many to defeat. The Key Wielders began to fear for their lives when all they saw when they gazed around was the purple hoods of the army, but the skeletal like beings soon retreated.

A horrible fearful squeal attacked their ears, and everyone gazed at Taran. He was pig-less, and he held a bloody farmer's knife. A look of accomplishment ruled his features. "I got one! Did you see that?" He gazed happily at the other three, but he was met with glares.

"Where's the pig?" Riku asked, pointing a scolding finger at the boy.

"What? I thought one of you had her…" Taran examined all of their empty arms, and his look of accomplishment fell to dismay. "Oh, no! They took her! I dropped her!" He clutched his hands into the front of his hair.

"It's ok, Taran, let's just go ask Dallben for help," Kairi suggested. Taran glared at her thought.

"No, he'll kill me!" he exclaimed. "We have to go rescue her! We have to follow those soldiers to the Horned King's castle!" The three Key Wielders really did not have a choice, so they agreed.

The army was not that far ahead, and they followed a westerly path. Soon, night fell, but the soldiers did not feel discouraged by the darkness of the forest. They continued almost zombie like through the woods, and eventually, dark towers towered in the night sky, their lights shining down through the trees. The group held back in the shrubs while the soldiers crossed the drawbridge into the castle.

"What's the plan?" Riku looked expectantly at Sora. Sora was busy studying the fortress, looking for a weakness in the walls. There was a high window that was big enough to climb through, and the stones on the outer wall might be loose enough to climb up. All four pairs of eyes flashed to a strange noise from behind them in the dark, and Kairi clasped onto Sora's collar.

"Eep, what was that?" she whispered when the sound did not return. A small animal like thing stepped into the moonlight, revealing itself. It looked very shy, and its grey fur was very dirty.

"Gurgi greets these children of the night," the creature said, and everyone gave each other a confused look.

"What's that?" Riku questioned Taran, since he was the only local in the group.

"Why would I know, ask it!" Taran said as he glared at the silverette.

"Uhh, kind sir, what are you?" Kairi asked, hopefully choosing the correct gender.

"Gurgi thinks you are very beautiful, young maiden." The creature bowed to Kairi, and Kairi blushed at his words.

"Maybe his name is Gurgi," she concluded, and returned the bow to the creature.

"Ugh, who cares what his name is? I need to rescue Hen Wen!" Taran gestured to the castle, and became very impatient.

"Oh, no! You must not enter the castle," Gurgi said. "Dangerous things lie inside that will certainly kill you, noble lord!" Taran glared at the creature.

"Ok, so here's what we're going to do; climb up the wall, and go through that window, find Hen Wen, and get out," Sora explained. Taran looked at him.

"No, you heard Gurgi, there are dangerous things. I lost Hen Wen, I should go by myself. Just let me borrow your blade and I will come back with the pig," Taran proposed. Sora laughed at him, and summoned his keyblade. He handed it to Taran, and the boy marveled at the beautiful metal in the moonlight. His amazement was stopped when the weapon appeared back into Sora's hand. "Why did you do that?"

"No one can wield it but me. C'mon, I'll go inside with you," Sora offered, smiling at the boy. Taran sighed relentlessly. The two boys exited the bushes, leaving Kairi, Riku, and Gurgi to wait for them in case they needed back up. Sora climbed up the stone castle wall first, disappearing into the lighted window. He helped Taran through, and then they were gone from the others' sight.

A large, goat like Heartless charged at Taran and Sora once they both had their feet on the stone cold floor. The Kingdom Key came down hard against the beast's horns, and it grunted at the impact. Taran was holding his small knife in his shaking hand, and looked worryingly at Sora when the Heartless began to step slowly backwards as to charge them again. It ran its hoof over the floor, getting ready to run at them. It took off at full speed down the corridor, and Taran stepped nervously behind the Keybearer. At the last moment, Sora stuck his keyblade straight out, and a sickly noise made Taran open his eyes and peek over the other's shoulder. The Heartless had impaled his forehead on the blade, and its eyes rolled to the back of its head before it disappeared.

"Where do you think they would keep Hen Wen?" Sora questioned Taran as he cleaned the black Heartless blood off the keyblade, using a tapestry hanging on the wall.

"Most likely in the dungeon, which would be on the bottom most floor," Taran explained, and looked to the circular stairs at the end of the hallway. Sora followed his gaze, and grabbed the single torch that illuminated the corridor to carry with them into the dark stairway. With the fire in one hand and the keyblade in the other, Sora slowly made his way down the stairs, with his back pressed to the inner wall at all times. He constantly peeked around the corner, and held his finger up to his lips whenever Taran tried to make conversation.

At the end of the stairs was another long corridor, but it was completely black. The torch irradiated a circular area around them, but Sora took conscious steps into the darkness. Taran had his back pressed to the Keybearer's, holding his knife more confidently now in case a skeletal soldier attacked the two. Sora stepped down a few stairs into a colder, wider room. He spun around when he heard Taran's muffled scream, and held his light higher to create more light. He was now alone in the dark, and Taran was nowhere to be seen. He called out the pig keeper's name, which was meant with a different voice calling a hello.

"Who's there?" Sora asked the darkness, clutching fearfully to his weapon. No matter how old he was, or how much crazy, fearful, terrifying ordeals he had been through, there would always be a part of him that was deathly afraid of the dark.

"Fflewddur Fflam, please, boy, let me out," the voice called back, and Sora finally saw the man illuminated in his torch light. He was fairly old as well, and wore traveler's clothes. He held a Gittern in his skinny, wrinkly fingers, and looked almost starved. Sora opened the lock on the barred door with his keyblade, and Fflewddur walked quickly out of the cell. "Thank the Gods, boy! I've been in there for three months, and I haven't eaten for a week. You saved my life!" The bard grabbed Sora's shoulder in appreciation, and Sora smiled at him in the firelight. Both of them introduced themselves properly.

"We have to go find my friend, he was looking for his pig," Sora explained, and Fflewddur easily followed the Keybearer back up the stairs. This time though, they were not meant without a fight. The King's soldiers were packed into the stairs, and Sora swung at all of them, handing his torch to the old man to fight better. A flash of red and blonde hair made the two exit the stairwell. Taran was now holding a large, ornate sword, and a girl was behind him, cowering from the soldiers. Sora joined him, protecting the girl and the bard with his body. The group gradually made their way to a door, and Sora swung it open. He looked a few feet down to see a dark moat, and saw Riku wave at him from across the water.

"Fuck it," Sora said before jumping into the cold water, and swimming quickly the other shore. The three others followed behind him, and the skeletal beings stood helplessly at the door, perhaps not able to get wet. Kairi rushed out of the vegetation to greet her boyfriend with a blanket from her pack, and she bundled him up in the cloth like a burrito. Riku handed his blanket to the blonde girl, and Sora's blanket to the old man. The girl invited Taran to join her in the warmth, and he eagerly did. The group began running into the forest when the drawbridge began to descend down.

"What about Hen Wen?" Sora breathily asked Taran as the weeds hit his calves. Taran told him that he and Princess Eilonwy (that was the blonde) had sent Hen Wen free, and she just ran off into the woods. Riku, Kairi, and Gurgi confirmed that they had seen her running, and had even tried to catch her, but she was just too fast.

The group ran until they were tired, and then began to walk. Soon, the sun began to peek over the horizon, and there were yawns all around. It was decided that shelter should be found so they could get some rest before searching for Hen Wen. Riku and Sora went to scout it out, and found a cavern big enough for the seven of them. All of the adventurers easily fell asleep after a meal of warm beef stew from Sora's pack. But, Kairi curled up next to Sora before he drifted away, and kissed him delicately on the lips.

"I was worried about you," she said sweetly, and Sora smiled at her.

"You don't need to worry about me," he explained. "I'll be fine."


	11. Prydain Part 2

Kairi's hand reached over to feel the comforting movement of Sora's breathing chest, and felt instead the marshy wetness of the cave floor. She opened her eyes as soon as she noticed that the floor should feel like stone instead of moist ground, and her senses were bombarded with the forest's night. Lightning bugs of all different shades illuminated the large flowers on the luscious trees, and those too appeared to be glowing in the night. The quiet night was serenaded by the sounds of bugs, but not the normal crickets from a normal wood. It sounded almost like music.

The shocked Kairi glanced around at the circle of sleeping bodies, and was relieved when all were accounted for. She shook the sleeping Keybearer next to her, and he swatted her hands gently away. "W-what?" he muttered up at her and half opened his eyes. The openings widened when he too realized his surroundings. Soon, every being in the circle was sitting up and gazing around.

"Where are we? I thought we fell asleep in that cave?" Eilonwy questioned, and everyone gave her a shrug. Except Fflewddur.

"We're in the Fair Folk's kingdom. Underground to ours'. Strange though, they usually bring you down here, you don't just stumble upon it," the old man said. The group, being well rested, stood up and began to walk aimlessly into the magical forest. They crossed a beautiful stream across a large fallen tree. The rocks glowed light blue, illuminating the water and the frogs that sat upon them. Eilonwy almost tripped on a hole in the wood, but Taran caught her before she fell the short distance to the water.

An orange firelight danced in the distance, standing out against the green and blue lights of the nature around them. Fflewddur warned that Fair Folk can be very angry at unwelcomed visitors, so Sora, Riku, Taran, and Gurgi elbowed their way to view to clearing while Kairi, Eilonwy, and Fflewddur hung back. The clearing was the sight of a celebration of some sort. A large bonfire was held in the middle, and the fairies danced around them. Speaking of them, they were some of the most beautiful creatures any of them had ever seen. The women had slender bodies with wings that resembled stain glass windows when the light shown just right. Their hair flowed well past their backs, and flowers and tree branches were braided into it. The men were lean and tall as well, and their wings were much more earthy tones compared to the women. All of their ears were pointed and their eyes slanted just like cats.

"Wow," Taran muttered as the most lovely of the females danced happily with her mate, her auburn brown hair swinging around in its large braid. They looked like a very happy community.

"Let's join the party," Riku suggested under his breath to Sora, and the brunette chortled at his idea. Riku gestured to the one he thought was in charge; an older fairy, who was a bit chubbier and had grayer hair than the rest. A crown of branches twisted around his hair, and he sat on a throne of nature while gorgeous servants attended to his every need. "Taran, what do you know about these Fair Folk?"

"Fflewddur was right; they do not like unwelcomed guests. But they do like virgins, and attractive folk. And ones with a lot of greatness around them. Like one with a great destiny," Taran explained through the grass, and Riku gazed at Sora with an evil smile. Sora quickly shook his head, but Riku nodded at his best friend.

"I vote we send Sora in there, because he has all of those qualities. He could act like he was a lost hero, looking for Hen Wen, and maybe they would feel bad for him, and help him." Riku looked at Gurgi and Taran, and both gave their approval with a nod. "Outvoted Sora, go around the other side and stumble upon their festivities."

"Did you just call me attractive?" Sora muttered to Riku as he elbowed down the hill. Riku rolled his eyes at his friend, and Sora laughed. "And _I_ was the one who tried to mack on _you_? Ha, doubt it." Riku laughed sarcastically at him as he disappeared around a tree.

The Keybearer stood up and brushed himself off once behind the oak and ruffled his hair a little bit. For some reason, he felt he had to look his best to meet these people. He stumbled around the tree, and tried to look as surprised as possible when he met the piercing eyes of the fairies. The music halted, the dancing feet froze, and even the fire appeared to stop. Sora raised his hands in defense at everyone's confused gaze.

"Who are you, human?" A male asked, and everyone appeared to have their hands on their weapons, ready to draw them.

"Uhh, I don't want any problems, now," Sora explained. "I'm sorry to crash your party. I was just looking for my pig."

"Your name, boy!" The leader called from his throne, pointing a sausage finger at the stranger.

"Sora!" he yelled in fear as a giant of a man picked up his hammer right in front of him. "Sora, my name's Sora," he said a bit more quietly.

"Why do you travel Prydain without a sword? Only a fool would do so!" A girl questioned, and all the fairies laughed. Their giggles were like honey in Sora's ears.

"I have a weapon," he clarified. The king demanded it immediately. The keyblade flashed in the firelight, and all the creatures oohed and awed at the blade. Sora had found his Ultima keychain on the ring while everybody else was asleep, and attached it to the Kingdom Key. He decided he would use it from now on. Mickey once told him that it was welded by the first Keybearer ever, and was destined in its life to fall into every Keybearer's hand at some time or other. It appeared different when every person assigned it to their blade. Sora's weapon had a very thick and long blade of silver, surrounded by gold in a net pattern. The key teeth at the end were crowned shaped with a heart carved out in the middle. The gold net blended into the cobalt blue metal of the key end. The hilt was gold and royal blue as well, and gold angel wings made the circle around the hand hold. It was a beautiful weapon, and fit Sora perfectly. He may have a nice personality, but he fought like a true hero.

A lackey of the king snatched the weapon out of his hands and took it to his boss. "My liege," the man said as he bowed and presented the blade to the king. The older one held the blade in his hand and examined it.

"What a beautiful creation. A nice addition to my collection," the leader joked, and all his subjects laughed once again. The chuckling stopped when Ultima disappeared from the king's grasp and reappeared in Sora's waiting hands, and they all gazed in amazement at the boy. "How dare you!" The monarch stood up in a rage and marched over angrily to the human. "How dare you disrespect me with pitiful human magik?"

"It's not magik, sir, I was destined this blade. It chose me. It has had ancient magik placed upon it for many eons. When the universe needs a savior, it chooses one from the many souls across the vast galaxies. And this time, it happened to choose me," Sora enlightened the elf king on his situation, and the man stepped back at his words.

"Forgive me, hero," he bowed at him when he looked to his eyes and saw his destiny, and snapped at a scantily clad woman to bring him something. "The mirror, let's help find this boy's pig." The fairy brought an ornate mirror to her master, and he held it for Sora to view. It showed Hen Wen running around the dark forest, fearfully but not in danger. Sora sighed in relief at her safety, and the king raised his eyebrow at the pig. "Your pig is the oracular pig Hen Wen?"

"Sort of, she's my friend's. We had to save her from the Horned King, and we did, but she ran out into the forest," he described as he watched the mirror.

"Do not worry, Hen Wen has been under our protection since she was born, she will be protected. I am King Eiddileg, and these are my subjects, the Fair Folk. We welcome you to our home. You may stay as long as you want, and unlike most of our human visitors, you may leave whenever you wish," Eiddileg offered. Sora thanked him for his hospitality, but said he had to get back to his friends, and something about the Horned King getting the Black Cauldron.

"Oh! I know where the Cauldron is at. I used to be the owner, but I gave it to a lady friend of mine," the monarch said with a suggestive eyebrow wave, and Sora laughed at his joke. His apparent queen glared at him from across the clearing, and he waved happily to her. "My advisor, Doli, will you lead to the Marshes of Morva." The man stepped forward out of the tall crowd of elves, and he was a short stocky dwarf. His beard was dark brown and fell to his knees, and a battle axe was secured to his armor on his back. The king bowed once again to Sora, and was followed by the rest of the party goers. Sora bowed in return, and he and Doli walked out of the clearing. He introduced the dwarf to everyone else in the group, and they began to venture to the swamps.

/

The marshes were vastly different from the enchanted forest. Algae grew on everything, their feet squished in the mud as they walked, and the sounds of toads croaking filled the air. A hut rested on a wooden dock, and a purple smoke stack rose through the chimney.

"That's where the Cauldron's at," Doli explained with a shiver. "Three witches reside inside." Sora expectantly waited for the dwarf to walk towards the dwelling, but he only stared at it with disgust.

"Well?" Taran asked with a shrug towards the house.

"I dare not go inside," the fairy explained. "These witches use dark magik, and I am strictly against that sort of thing." Eilonwy shivered in fear, and suggested she stay outside. Riku offered to stay with her as Doli began to travel back to his home kingdom, and Taran glared at the taller boy. Gurgi lead the way into the hut. On the way there, Gurgi had succeeded at annoying Taran so much that his face had turned red. It was quite hilarious actually, because Gurgi was building up Taran to exactly what he wanted to be, a hero.

Upon entering the building, everyone took notice of the strange surroundings. Potions of all different liquids lined the shelves, and several strange devices occupied the storage spaces as well. Three old women surrounded a bubbling cauldron, and were creating a potion. They were muttering ancient words as they added ingredients, and the group stepped out from the shadows into the witches view.

"Here for the Cauldron, 'ey, boy?" One of them asked with an evil eye. The women were all repulsive creatures, with many warts and wrinkles. She pointed a bent finger at Taran, and he sneered at her ugliness.

"Yes, King Eiddileg said he gave it to you," Taran explained, and the witches gasped at the name drop.

"Oh yes, when we were much younger, and much more beautiful, Eiddileg was quite the entertainer," The least revolting one said. The other sisters laughed at the old memories.

"What will you give us in return for the Cauldron, boy?" The leader inquired. "Perhaps this pure hearted princess." She touched Kairi's locks with her crooked hands, and Sora stepped in between the two females and gave the witch a warning glare.

"Ooh, ask for the bard, he's kind of cute," the nicer one said as she sent a flirtatious wave at Fflewddur. He looked away in disgust.

"No, no, I sense a boy here holds a very magical sword. So, that deal only makes sense! One magik item for another," the leader suggested as she waved off her sister.

Taran shook his head at Sora as he showed the witches his keyblade. The main witch denied that this was the sword she spoke of, and the third, fattest witch grabbed the old king's sword of Taran's back. The boy frowned as the leader witch smiled at the blade. "B-but, without that…I can't fight…" he said disappointedly.

"Boy, there are many capable warriors in your party. What makes you think you _need_ to fight?" the boss asked him. "Think you're going to be a hero, huh? Not this quest boy, and not for a long time. Even if you do keep the sword, you still will not rise as the hero of this journey." Her eyes glazed over at her prophecy, and Taran sighed in defeat. He handed the sword to the witch, and she cackled in delight. The nicest witch grabbed the Black Cauldron from the closet, and handed it to Taran. It was heavy, and Sora stood on the other side of it to help the pig keeper carry it out.

As the group began to walk out of the marshes, one of the witches called from the window; "Oh, boy, just so you know, the only way to destroy the Cauldron's power is for a being to willingly jump into it. He will of course die, but the Cauldron will also die."

The whole group sighed in dismay as they exited the marshes. They were once again in the cave they fell asleep in, and they all looked around at each other. "So, does anyone want to kill themselves to turn that pot off?" Riku asked sarcastically. Everyone stared at the ground in defeat, and he sighed, "of course."

"We could just take the Cauldron back to Dallben," Taran suggested. "He could help protect it until we find a way to destroy it." Everyone agreed with him, and they began to walk into the forest.

"Taran, are you feeling well?" Eilonwy asked when Taran moped along for at least an hour.

"I am such a fool. How could I think that we could destroy the Cauldron by ourselves? I should have gone back to Dallben once the Horned King captured Hen Wen. Then this whole mess would have never happened," he explained as he stopped in his tracks.

"Noble Taran, Gurgi believes we are doing the right thing. The Horned King would have found the three witches, and then gotten the Cauldron for himself," the animal offered as condolences. Taran shrugged at the thought.

"Yeah, the bad guy always loses, and the Horned King is totally the bad guy. We have to get rid of him," Kairi said with an encouraging smile.

Taran sighed as he looked at the encouraging faces. He wanted to turn and run away. He had messed everything up, just to be the hero. Eilonwy looked at him with her big, bright eyes, and grabbed his head to lift his chin up. "Taran, don't worry, everything will be okay," she promised to him, and they held each other's gaze for a few moments. Eilonwy was just about to raise herself up on her tiptoes to meet his lips, but a charge trumpet rung through the woods. The Horned King and his men burst through the brush, and the three key wielders were no match for their numbers. They surrendered when Heartless swarmed under the horse's hooves, knowing they would fight until they fell if they chose to.

"The Cauldron!" The Horned King demanded, and Taran shook his head at him. A Heartless appeared by Eilonwy and tugged hard at her arm, causing her to cry out in pain at the nails digging in her skin. Taran immediately swung the Cauldron at the King, and he caught it to no avail. "Bring the humans, leave the creature," he ordered a high ranking soldier, and the humans were shackled together with a magical chain. Sora, Riku, and Kairi tried to summon their blades, but their hands remained empty. Something in the shackles prevented any magik.

The walk to the castle was a short one, and the Horned King had the men hung from their hands on the wall of the throne room. He was a bit more respectful to Kairi and Eilonwy, and allowed them to sit side by side on his throne. "Now Eilonwy, I know you are a princess, but this blood haired beauty must be of royal heritage as well?" he suggested as he sat the Cauldron in the middle of the room.

"I am," Kairi responded with a glare.

"Good, good," the King said with a crooked smiled. "Now, if something happens to one of you, I always have a backup queen." The soldiers in the room chortled at the joke, and Kairi glowered at him with disgust.

"Not in a million years, scum." She spat at his feet, and the King instantly slapped her across the face. Kairi stared at Eilonwy with the shock, and then looked desperately at Sora.

"Fucking touch her one more time! I fucking dare you," Sora threatened from his uncomfortable position. The king waved him off and told him to watch his mouth. He began to recite ancient words from a book, and the Black Cauldron began to glow and bubble.

Furry hands on Sora's knuckles caused the Keybearer to look up. Gurgi smiled at him silently as he picked the chains open with his nails. All the enemy eyes in the room lay on the Cauldron and the King. Sora dropped quietly to the floor, rubbing his red wrists. Taran and Riku followed, and Fflewddur was very weak from hanging. He gestured to the girls who would be much harder to get out, and Taran decided to sneak around the room until they were behind the King's back.

A skeletal hand reached out from the Cauldron as they began their descent down the stairs, and Riku and Sora drew their keyblades. They gave each other a ready nod as they landed in the main area with war cries, and the soldiers, Heartless, and Cauldron born were instantaneously upon them. Riku was using magik against them, he was much better at it than Sora. Way to Dawn caught aflame just as it pierced a soldier's armor, or it would be deep inside a Heartless and then the creature would explode into light.

Even though Sora was not as skillful as Riku, he was still knocking them dead. He was fighting on the stairs, always ahead of his enemies to use the height to his advantage. Once he reached the top of the stairs, he viewed the throne room quickly. He saw Kairi fighting in the fray of soldiers, and the other four in his party trying to get to the Cauldron. The Horned King had disappeared when the violence had erupted. Sora jumped high down the stairs, using the aerial gain to deliver deathly blows to the evil beings below him.

Soon, all the three Key Wielders were back to back in a circle of enemies. Sora put his left hand behind his back, and found Riku's right hand and Kairi's left in the tiny circle made by their bodies. He counted down 3…2…1 with his fingers pressed against their palms, and then they all jumped into the enemies. The clash of metal and dying grunts filled the room. After ten minutes of swinging their keyblades, all the enemies lay dead on the ground.

New Cauldron born were crawling out of the Black Cauldron, but only one at a time. They easily took them out once they stepped out of the green potion while Fflewddur tried to use spells against the black magik. Nothing was working though. Taran sighed in defeat, realizing that the Cauldron would never be conquered. He looked around at his friends, but missed the short, furry creature. He looked up at the rafters, and saw Gurgi looking down in horror at the Cauldron. He took a step forward towards the edge of the rafter. "Gurgi, don't!" he yelled to deaf ears.

The animal dove off the rafters and into the Cauldron, and everyone turned around with a gasp. The Cauldron was bubbling over and shaking horrendously. Eilonwy began to cry at the loss of her friend. The shock of Gurgi's suicide was interrupted by a loud yell near the stairway.

"No! What have you done?" The Horned King was sprinting down the stairs with a sword in his hand. Riku smashed Way to Dawn against the blade, and the king dropped it against Riku's strength. Regardless, the King descended on the Cauldron. The green bubbles swallowed him up in a puff, and then the Cauldron settled down. The castle was empty besides the six humans staring sadly at the Cauldron.

"Gurgi…" Taran muttered depressingly as he touched the black metal gently with his hands. The Cauldron began to glow white and rise into the air, and soon Sora was surrounded by clouds and the Cauldron turned into a keyhole. He closed it without his usual triumph, and then the Cauldron fell back onto the castle floor with a clutter. Taran looked at him with earning, as if he could do something. Sora shrugged at him and looked at the floor.

Kairi felt very sad for Gurgi. Only a true hero would sacrifice his life to save his world and his friends. She touched the Cauldron gently with her petite hands, wishing to someone, _anyone_, that Gurgi would rest in peace and have a wonderful afterlife. Her eyes opened in surprise as her hands began to glow white, and so did the Cauldron. It spat out a ball of fur, and there Gurgi was; covered in slime, but okay.

Eilonwy hugged him gratefully despite his state, and Gurgi returned her embrace. Taran hugged them both. Sora looked from the happy scene to Kairi. "How did you do that?" he questioned, and Kairi shrugged at him.

"Maybe since Gurgi was pure of heart he did not deserve to die. Or the Horned King also sacrificed himself, so maybe the Cauldron thought that was good enough," she suggested, and Sora accepted her solution.

The three said good bye to the Prydain natives, and wished them luck. Hopefully now they would find a new ruler who would rule with a kind heart. Sora had remembered where the Gummi Ship was at after searching for it through the afternoon, all while having fun and goofing around in the forest. The Key Wielders took off into space, ready to help the next world with a Heartless problem.


	12. The Return

**A/N: Oh man, I haven't updated in a long time. I was really stuck on this chapter and I finally had an epiphany and came up with this idea. Just so you know, I've never played 358/2 days, or Birth By Sleep, or 3D. I know the very basics of them, I'll explain how I am going to interpret the past throughout my story. If you have questions or are confused please ask. Also don't be anal because I don't know the minuscule details of everything. Thanks for reading! Enjoy.**

00ooo00ooo00oooo

The humid summer winds lightly brushed through his hair as he sat on the street corner. One single street lamp lit the street for as far as he could see besides the lights coming out of the buildings. It was hot but he still wore his sweatshirt, the stuff in his pockets too important to let hang loosely in his arms. He lightly puffed on his last bummed cigarette, the calming nicotine soothing his dry throat instead of making it worst. A few people were huddled at the door of the small bar behind him, but this street was as empty as could be. Car alarms beeped instantly when passengers exited it. Women either hung closely to their group of friends or clutched the arm of their male companion. This was a dangerous part of the city, not like he cared. He could pull his own, exemplified by the last month.

"Hey cutie, got a light?" He looked up at the busty blonde resting her hands on her knees with a cig between her teeth. He held up his lighter with a smile as he blew his smoke out. She took it and lit her own before taking a seat next to him on the concrete. "What's your name?"

"Axel, yours?" he questioned, thanking some god out there that he took a shower and changed his clothes the night before. This woman was hot, maybe he could hang out with her for a few days before she booted him out on the streets.

"Anne Marie, you look a little lonely out here, sugar," the girl said through another puff. Axel raised his eyebrow out her, thinking she must have been totally sloshed to approach a man sitting on the curb in this part of town. She wasn't showing the regular signs of intoxication, though.

"A little bit, why…?" he questioned, raising a thin eyebrow at her. She finally noticed his violet teardrop tattoos under his cat green eyes, and raised her eyebrows in return.

"Have you killed someone?" she returned as she glared at him a bit.

"Oh, my teardrops? They're for memory, not murder. Two people I knew were killed, black is when you kill someone," he explained, hoping she would not think he was a criminal. He thanked that same god his other tattoos were covered by his clothing, wondering how she would react to that.

"How much cash you have, baby?" the female asked. Axel gave her a confused look. "I got a proposition for you. I'm a little low on cash, and I would do anything if you paid me. Just 50 munny. _Anything_."

Axel just laughed at her. "And why would I pay you for sex when I can get it for free?" he interrogated her. She noticed how he looked down for cash as well, and she had an apartment he could stay in for a while. Axel thought about this. It wouldn't _technically_ be paying her for the sex, just the apartment. He did have the 50 munny, exactly. He could earn it back easy. He nodded slowly at her suggestion, and pulled the munny out of his wallet. The girl got up and instructed him to follow her with her fingers.

They walked a few blocks before Axel got tired. "Where do you live at?" he asked, not wanting to walk all the way across town.

"Oh, downtown," the blonde commented nonchalantly.

"What? That would take five hours to get there by foot. You don't have a car or anything?" he complained with a sigh. He was beginning to want his 50 munny back.

"Yeah, there's my ride," Anne Marie said with a smile. Axel's shoulders dropped at the sight of the black and white cruiser pulling down the street towards them. He looked expectantly at Anne Marie, and she pulled the badge out of her back pocket. How she even fit that in those little jean shorts he will never know. "You're under arrest for solicitation of sex."

"Yay," Axel said sarcastically as the handcuffs snapped around his waiting wrist. He was immediately shoved against the hood of the cop car and 'Anne Marie' or whatever the fuck her name was began to feel him up in every which way possible, pulling his belongings out of his pockets. "For someone who's not a prostitute, you sure know what a guy likes." The male officer showed Axel the knife he held, which probably broke the 4 inch law, and then the gram of weed he had in a baggie, which definitely broke the marijuana law. Axel sighed once more as he was shoved in the back of the police car and drove to the police station.

"Can I have my 50 munny back?" Axel asked the blonde before the male officer pulled him into the station. She simply scoffed at him and walked away.

Once inside the brand new facilities, Axel was finger printed, had his picture taken, got pictures of all his tattoos and piercings (the fat guard blushed at his pubic piercing), and had his DNA taken from a tongue swab. The check in guard gave him a blood test and took all his legal personal belongings and put them in a special tub just for him. The guard then asked for any form of identification as he looked through Axel's almost empty wallet. The redhead just shook his head simply, not having anything with even a picture of him on it. Another officer asked if he would like to enter an official statement about his crimes, and Axel refused because he wanted a lawyer. With that a guard took him to a cell, and told him to sit on the bed as he closed the door.

Another being was in the cell, his hood up and he was lying down facing the wall. He did not stir at all when Axel was being locked inside. The redhead examined the figure quietly as the guard walked down the hallway. The small man looked to be in a very deep sleep, and Axel decided it would be rude to wake him to have small talk. Besides, it was technically three in the morning. It made sense to be sleeping right now. With that consensus, Axel laid down on the oh so comfortable cot and pulled his hood up as well. The alcohol and marijuana he had been using before he arrived there set in and put him to sleep.

0ooo0000oooo000

Axel was awoken by the sound of a flushing toilet, and he peered out into the lit cell to examine the other man. His eyes almost fell out of his head when they locked eyes, and Axel immediately set up, searching the man's face for any sign of threat. His fists were clenched by his hips, ready to stand up and swing at the other. Not that it would help him.

"Hello Axel," the man said with a weak smile. His steel blue hair was cut shorter, though it still covered his right eye. "Fancy seeing you here." He chortled at the thought as he set on his own cot directly across from the redhead. "Don't worry, man. No hard feelings." He had noticed Axel's balled up fists.

"The fuck are you doing here, Zexion?! What am I doing here?! How are we alive right now?!" Axel almost screamed at his old teammate. The thoughts had been filling his brain after he randomly sprung up in the old mansion about a month ago with his last memory being fighting to the death with Sora at his side.

"Calm down, Axel. It's easily explainable. Our heartless and nobodies were both killed by keyblades, and they found each other in Kingdom Hearts. This therefore allowed us to be 'reincarnated' for lack of a better term. We are creatures called 'Wises'; almost human, but our hearts still belong to darkness," Zexion explained as he examined Axel. The redhead looked disheveled and like he hadn't eaten anything hearty for a long time.

"I forgot how smart you sound," Axel sighed. He started laughing slowly, and the blue haired man began to laugh along with him. This quickly escalated into a hug and a handshake and a pretend toast of being alive. "Oh my god, I fucking killed you, dude! I'm so sorry…" Axel realized as he recalled the memories from so long ago.

"Yeah, I thought about that…A lot. I mean, I've been thinking, about the Organization and everything. I realized it was…very fucked up," Zexion commented with a thoughtful look at the corner.

"Oh, you have no idea. You will not believe the crazy shit I went through after that incident at Castle Oblivion where Xemnas decided we should kill off half of the members because they weren't thinking the exact way he did," Axel said angrily. "We were all just a bunch of cattle to sacrifice for Xemnas's fucked up agenda. We were never trying to 'get our hearts back' or whatever other bullshit he fed to us. Only the ones who were sucking his dick were in on the secret, but I bet in the end they all just died for him at the hands of the _real_ good guys."

"You know, you are very correct. Did Xemnas and them die…?" Zexion asked tentatively, guessing Axel probably had no idea.

"I'm not for sure, but I'm going to guess yes since we didn't get reborn into a universe full of Heartless," he suggested, and Zexion nodded at him. "How did they take you to jail…?" Axel realized Zexion should be able to use his magik but probably hadn't.

"Oh, I was sleeping on a park bench or something. They found my cigarettes, and said I was a minor in possession of tobacco because I don't have any I.D. Plus it's illegal to just sleep wherever you want I guess," he explained.

"Why did you just let them arrest you?" Axel inquired once again.

"Oh, that. Well…I was kind of hoping I would meet someone here, and then mooch off them for a while because I am _hungry_. Or at least get a free meal and shower. You know, the works," Zexion described. "You know…I could ask you the same question?"

"I…I haven't used my magik at all…" Axel said almost ashamed. Zexion gave him a confused look. "I was afraid that I would attract Xemnas or something. I'm guessing you found yourself in Castle Oblivion, right in the place you died, correct?" Zexion nodded at the guess. "Well, I did too. I was reborn right in the World Between, and I picked a portal, and found myself here. Couldn't bring myself to close it, I just ran. Why did you come to Twilight Town?"

"To look for someone…anyone, I guess…how'd you end up in jail anyway? PCP rage or what?" Zexion said with a laugh.

"Oh you know, soliciting a police officer for sex, a six inch knife, and a gram of weed," Axel returned with a laugh.

"What? That's entrapment, isn't it? Police officers posing as prostitutes?" Zexion asked no one in particular. Axel shrugged. "You would think, maybe somebody would know about the Wises…and maybe we would be on some type of wanted list…" It was like Zexion read the future (Axel wouldn't doubt it) because the moment after he said it an officer came up to their cell door with their organization I.D. photos in his hands, with the words "Wanted Alive by King Mickey" printed in large red letters underneath them. Zexion looked at Axel for a moment, and spoke to him through his mind. _"I think we could be tried for crimes against humanity, which is punishable by execution."_

_ "Then let's get the fuck out of here,"_ Axel thought back, forgetting how strange it was to have someone speak to you in your head. Zexion was the only person he knew that could do it; it had to do with his specialty in dark magik. A black portal appeared on the wall of the jail cell as the cop yelled for the cell keys. By the time he had opened the door though, Axel and Zexion were gone.

Axel squinted his eyes as the light changed from the darkness of the jail cell to the bright, white lights of the Grand Hall of the Castle that Never Was. He gave Zexion a confused look, wondering why he would bring them here. "I've come here before without troubles, I've never run into anyone before. The lights have never been on though…" The blue haired man glanced around at the rooms, reading the halls with his mind. He found a sleeping being, who was in an old bedroom. He couldn't delve into the being's mind though; the walls had shields against mind probing. But he could definitely sense that someone was there. He informed Axel of his findings.

"Well, whoever it is, he's asleep. We could go to our rooms and get some shit and then leave without waking him up," Axel suggested. The two started for the rooms. The lower, younger members of the Organization slept in a different hallway than the higher, older members. All the younger members had to share a communal bathroom (besides Larxene). Everyone else had their own fancy bedrooms with their own bathrooms. Axel lingered for a moment at the beginning of the hallway where Roxas and Xion's rooms were. He stared sadly at their nameplates before his ears perked to the music coming from farther down the hall. He looked at Zexion as the sound of a very familiar song played.

_If I die and go to hell real soon,_

_It will appear to me as this room,_

_And for eternity I'd lay in bed,_

_In my boxers, half stoned,_

_With a pillow under my head._

Zexion and Axel paused at every door to hear where the music was coming from, and finally heard it slipping under the door that read "IX." Axel gave Zexion a look as he placed his palm on the reader that unlocked the door. Any higher member could open the door of a lower one, and members could set members that were allowed in their rooms. For example, Roxas could unlock Axel's door even though Axel was his superior. Axel prayed that Demyx was the one sleeping behind that door, and not some weirdo who wanted to sleep in the Melodious Nocturne's scent.

"Number Eight entering," the feminine computer voiced announced as Zexion and Axel stepped into the dimly lit room. The bed stirred and a shirtless Demyx set up in his bed with his sitar in his sheet-covered lap. He stared wide eyed at the two, looking petrified.

"Demyx, don't worry. We're not here to fight," Zexion assured as Axel and him showed their empty hands. The sitar disappeared out of Demyx's long fingers, but he still looked nervous. Zexion explained their reasons for being alive at the moment, as he read in Demyx's mind that he was confused. Demyx nodded quietly.

"Why are you here? Waiting to die?" Axel questioned, confused as why Demyx would just be sleeping in his room all vulnerable like. It smelled like alcohol and Axel noticed the bottle of scotch on the night table.

"I dunno…I was waiting for someone to come back…" Demyx muttered. "But you guys are here now! We can wait together!" Demyx sprang up and Zexion and Axel looked at the floor to avoid seeing his nudity. Demyx's hands quickly reached for the sheets and wrapped his legs in them. "Sorry, I forgot I was naked."

"Wait for who, Demyx?" Axel questioned with a confused look.

"Pssh, Xemnas of course. He's our boss, I'm sure there's a lot of stuff we have to do," Demyx said as he searched for his pants.

"Fuck Xemnas," Axel commented.

"Yeah, fuck him, and every other motherfucker who used to live here," Zexion added.

Demyx looked mortified. They were speaking of mutiny. "What? You guys, no! Without Xemnas, we would…we would…we probably wouldn't even exist right now. He probably did something so we would come back alive. I mean, if we don't wait for him to come back, what are we supposed to do?" He questioned. Demyx was the type of person who needed purpose in his life at all times.

"Without Xemnas, you wouldn't have died in the first place, Demyx. Did you know he sent you to fight Sora because he knew you die? He thought you were a weak link, I heard him talking about it with Saϊx. All we were to Xemnas were pawns in his games, he even branded us like cattle," Axel said angrily. He pointed at the tattoo of "IX" on Demyx's thin collarbone. All Organization members had their numbers somewhere on their body. Axel's was on his bicep and Zexion's was on his wrist.

Demyx lightly touched his tattoo and stared at Axel and Zexion. He knew they were right. The Organization was a lie. He truly didn't want to be a part of it anymore. "Then what are we supposed to do? If we just go into hiding and try to continue our lives normally, you know Xemnas will come looking for us," he stated matter-of-fact.

"Easy, we find Sora, and help him defeat Xemnas, and everyone else," Axel planned.

"Oh yeah, out of the thousands of worlds out there, we're bound to find the Key Bearer in just a few days. Not to mention, our faces are probably plastered everywhere with shiny rewards for our bodies. Sounds like a great plan," Zexion said sarcastically.

"So, Mr. Know-It-All, how does a Wise go about turning back into a normal human being?" Axel asked with a smug smile.

"By committing good deeds, I believe," Zexion said with a glare, seeing where he was going.

"Exactly, so we go searching for Sora, and along the way we commit good deeds, and become human beings," Axel suggested.

"Human beans," Demyx said with a chortle. Zexion glared at him. "Yeah, I'm in. Sounds fun! Only if I get to punch Luxord in the face. I hate his British accent and his stupid alcoholism."

"Demyx, you have an empty bottle of scotch on your night stand and you are judging people on their alcoholism," Zexion noticed.

"I got it from Xigbar's room. He has like a whole closet full of booze," Demyx pointed out. "Before we go anywhere though, you guys need to shower and change clothes. YOU STINKY!"

"Isn't the water off?" Axel asked.

"I can pull it up from the city water supply, but it's cold as shit. But now that you're here, you can make it hot!" Demyx said as he grabbed Axel's shoulders in excitement.

All of them collected old towels, clothes, and shower supplies and met in the communal bathroom. They stripped down and stood in front of three shower heads. The pipes screeched as Demyx's mind pulled the water up them, and the water came out of the faucets with a sputter. It was instantly cold, and Axel fled to the middle of the shower room, hating cold water. Zexion and Demyx stared at him expectantly. Axel nervously looked at them as he started small fires in the pipes, and the water began to steam up. Eventually, it was hot enough for them to step back into the water and start to bathe.

"So, I think we should try to find a computer to maybe hack a system to possibly find Sora's location," Zexion suggested as he scrubbed his oily hair with some shampoo.

"I tried to get on my computer, it didn't work. I mean, I turned the generator on, but I think someone has to pay the internet bill for the internet to work," Demyx explained.

"Xemnas has an emergency internet system in his office, we could get on it," Zexion offered.

"And how are we supposed to get in Xemnas' room, let alone get on the computer? You know you have to his finger prints," Axel pointed out.

Zexion took the form of Xemnas, which was pretty strange. Zexion could take the form of anyone he had seen before, and he could imitate their voice. Zexion had not seen Xemnas naked before, so his nudity remained to his true form.

"Quit! You're freaking me out!" Demyx shuddered as he glared at Zexion. The man took his true form once again and finished washing himself off.

After their shower, the boys decided to pack their backpacks with essential stuff. When Axel was in his room, he noticed Roxas' X necklace on his dresser, and remembered taking it off his body before he rejoined Sora. He closed it around his neck, deciding he could at least give it to Sora.

They met at Xemnas' door, and Zexion took the less creepy form of a clothed Xemnas, placing his palm on the door's unlock pad. It slipped open effortlessly, and the three men walked into the suite. A white desk set in front of a large window that would have a perfect view of Kingdom Hearts if it was night time. On one side of the room, there was a control panel that Zexion would have to use to hack into the King's system, and he took a seat on the swivel chair. He again used his palm to start the computer, and the backup internet kicked in.

Zexion searched for a while and found Leon's system in Radiant Gardens. He got past the first firewalls, and then met the password. He looked to Axel and Demyx; he knew nothing about Squall Leonhart. Axel shrugged hopelessly, while Demyx held his hand to his chin to think.

"I read his file once…his world was destroyed. It was called Balamb Garden. He was engaged to this girl…Oh god, her name was…was…Rinoa Heartilly! She died when Balamb was destroyed!" Demyx said excitedly.

Zexion entered the woman's name and the password was accepted. "Wow, Demyx, I can't believe you would remember that," Zexion commented. He searched "Sora Irino", and a Gummi Ship icon popped up on a map. He was in a newly documented world, Prydain. Axel wrote it down on a piece of paper and wrote other nearby worlds as well.

"Number Seven entering," the feminine voice shocked them all. Their heads all snapped to the door to see the Luna Divider standing with his claymore in his hands. Axel summoned his chakrams, Demyx clenched his sitar, and Zexion flipped his Lexicon open.

"Look what we have here, Superior. A bunch of little kids trying to hack your computer," Saϊx said with a hard face. Xemnas pushed by him with his Ethereal Blades in his hands. He looked at Axel with a death glare. Axel suddenly found himself being pulled into a portal, his returned death glare turning into a look of surprise.

"Run!" Demyx said as he sprinted by the two, almost diving into the exit portal on the other side. Axel and Zexion joined him, Axel sneaking a look over his shoulder to see Saϊx reaching into the portal before it closed on his hand. A smirk played across his face as he knew getting your hand stuck in a portal would surely maim you.

Demyx had not quit running after they entered the dark evergreen forest of the world they were in. He ran until he couldn't run any longer. Zexion and Axel sprinted after him for as long as they could, but both of them smoked cigarettes and their lungs were a lot weaker than his. They began to walk to the Demyx laying in the grass, panting like a dog.

"Jesus Christ, Demyx! Why did you run like that?" Axel wheezed as he fell in the grass next to the blonde.

"Ok, I didn't tell you guys the whole truth. Xemnas and Saϊx tried to kill me before in Radiant Gardens, in this life," he explained between breaths. "I did the same thing and ran. I thought maybe they would not try to kill me if they saw I came back again. That maybe they thought I was treacherous and that I should prove myself to them. I splinched Xemnas' arm."

Zexion sighed with exasperation. "They wanted to kill us, I read Saϊx's mind. I think that there is certain members that they have decided they want to kill; obviously us, probably a few others, as well." He had fallen breathily in the grass just like his companions.

"Did you exit the program before we left?" Axel questioned, suddenly very concerned.

"Yeah, it was on the desktop. They'll never know what we're up to," Zexion returned.

"Who else do you think they want dead?" Demyx joined the conversation once more.

"Us, and most likely Marluxia and Larxene. Possibly even Vexen and Lexaeus," Zexion calculated. "We're in the Dwarf Woodlands by the way. I've never been to Prydain before and this was close on the map."

"Why is it nighttime here but it was morning time in the castle?" Demyx asked naively.

"The sun is always in a different position to each world, Demyx," Zexion explained, almost sounding condescending. This, of course, went unnoticed by Demyx.

"I feel safe enough now to sleep now that you two are here," the blonde said with a smile up at the beautiful stars. "It's so great, to have feelings again. I forgot what it was like." Axel was didn't hear Demyx's words; he was already passed out, using his backpack as a pillow. The weather was nice enough he didn't have to find a blanket. Zexion was still awake though, and he smiled thoughtfully at Demyx's words.

"Good night, Dem," Zexion said as his eyes became heavy. Demyx muttered a return good night, and the two of them let the sounds of the forest sing them to sleep.


	13. New Skills

**A/N: Thanks for all the favorites, reviews, and follows! It means the world to me. Sorry I haven't been updating lately, I've been going through a busy time! Kingdom Hearts III got announced today, and after I fan-girled all over the place, I finished this chapter. I hope it is awesome and makes you smile. I'm going to try a lot harder to update at least once a month. I have a lot more time now. Thanks again for everything **

"Axel!" Sora's voice rang through the police station as soon as they walked through the door, and he hopped over the barrier into the booking room without even a second look at the receptionist.

The snarky old lady looked at the two behind him with evil eyes, and Riku apologized. He flashed his Royal Military I.D. as an excuse to enter the station, and he and Kairi walked through the door like civilized people.

"Where is he?" Sora was pretty much demanding to the officer at the booking desk. He had obviously not proclaimed who he or Axel was, because the man kept asking him who he was talking about.

"Sora, calm down," Riku said as he placed a shoulder on his best friend and tugged him behind him. "Sir, we are looking for two prisoners, they were checked in under the names of 'Lea Flynn' and 'Ienzo Corazza.' They are intergalactic criminals and we are here under the King's name to collect them for processing and sentencing," Riku showed the guard his I.D. as he spoke, and the guard examined it closely. If one were to look at Riku's I.D., they would see his very serious picture accompanied by his full name, Riku Miyano, followed by his military title: first major, keyblade master. There were also other details like his birthday, height, weight, eye color, and hair color.

The guard quickly typed away, and clicked on the bookings from last night. "Ah, yes…obviously it was not known they were intergalactic criminals upon check-in, because some idiot made the bright decision to throw 'em in the same cell. Their wanted status must have come up in the mug shot comparing software. Flynn was booked for 'solicitation of sex, misdemeanor possession of marijuana, and possession of an illegal knife.' The other one was booked under 'minor in possession of tobacco and alcohol,' but strange thing is he is actually 21. I guess he does look kind of young…" he noticed trailing off.

"So where are they?!" Sora exclaimed over Riku's shoulder. The older one gave him a glare to shut up.

"Oh, yeah…about that, looks as if they have escaped. The report says the guard was going to separate them last night once he found out they were wanted, but they disappeared into a 'dark portal.' We looked all over the station, and now we're scouring the city for them. Sorry…" The man rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

Sora's mood dropped from elated to severely depressed once he found out Axel was not in the same vicinity as him. "Call off the search, they are long gone. Just keep an eye out for them to come through here again," Riku told the officer. "And it's not your fault, don't be embarrassed. They are powerful men and it would even be impossible for us to keep them in one place. Can we get a copy of their files though?" The man rushed off, hoping to make up for the mishap.

"Sora! Why are you so sad? He sounds like a douche. 'Solicitation of sex?' I mean, why would you want to be friends with someone like that?" Kairi inquired her sad boyfriend.

"I haven't seen him since….." Sora's voice dropped off, as if he couldn't finish the sentence. "I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding, I have a good feeling Axel doesn't need to pay prostitutes for sex. And I need to talk to him…like I have to tell him something important, but I can't think of what it is." After both Riku and Kairi gave him a questioning look, he continued. "It's Roxas, okay?! They were best friends. If I hadn't seen Riku for that long, I would be excited too. I bet Roxas has a ton of stuff to talk with Axel about, but it must suck because he can't and now, Axel's not even here. You don't ever feel that way with Naminé?"

Kairi shook her head. "I think Naminé's friends are all right here," she explained with a smile. "Well, even though he's not here, I'm sure he's out there, somewhere. And maybe he's looking for us too." Her hand fell on Sora's shoulder to reassure him, and his bright blue eyes looked up from the floor to meet hers.

The officer returned with a file folder full of papers and handed it to Riku. They said their goodbyes and the three Keywielders headed out back to the street. "What now?" Kairi asked the both of them, and Sora looked to Riku for an answer.

"I need to get something," Riku responded and held his thumb out for a taxi. A navy green one pulled over, almost splashing a puddle onto the three, which caused Kairi to jump back with a scream. Riku looked at her while rolling his eyes before he boarded the cab and scooted to the other end. Kairi sat in the middle before Sora got in and closed the door. "To the old mansion, please?" Riku said to the cabbie.

"Sorry, can't take you that far. No roads. I can take you to Tram Common though, there's a path leading right into the woods from there," the cabbie explained. Riku agreed, and they were off.

"I remember Twilight Town being a lot smaller than this…" Sora commented as he looked at the tall buildings and zooming cars outside the window. Riku explained Twilight Town on the long ride to Tram Common. The world Sora, or Roxas, remembered was made in a computer. Ansem and Riku had downsized the world a lot, because every new place they created offered a new place for Roxas' memories to enter his mind, or worse, members of the Organization trying to get him back. Twilight Town was more of a city, actually. It was named for its gorgeous sunsets, and held many different districts. The part that Sora remembered was the Old Town part, which is where Market Street and Tram Common were. The Central Train Station was there, but it was only called that because it was the first one to be built in Twilight Town, since Old Town was where the whole world started. Sunset Terrance was a residential area where Olette and Pence lived, and Hayner lived in Tram Common in an apartment with his mom.

"How do you know so much about them?" Kairi asked with a questioning look. She didn't think Riku had even met them.

"I had to make them in a computer program. I stood in this big plaza place, watching teenagers eat and hang out almost every day, and I noticed Hayner, Pence, and Olette. They were good friends. I thought they were the type of people Roxas would be friends with," Riku explained. The cab pulled into Tram Common and looked back at the passengers. Riku paid him and they exited the car. "So, I tried to make them realistic as possible. I mean, some of their life was too complicated to program, but I think I got the gist of it," the silverette continued to explain as they walked through the archway that lead into the forest.

"Why did you have to make them realistic?" Sora asked as he felt the similar feeling of déjà vu walking on the worn out natural path made in the forest.

"I was bored as fuck, I didn't have anything better to do," Riku explained. "Naminé was bored too. We went to the plaza every day and watched them and eavesdropped on them and learned about them. It was kind of creepy now that I think about it, but I had fun with Naminé."

"Did you have a crush on my Nobody?" Kairi asked with a shove. Sora felt a strike of jealousy hit his heart, and he didn't know if it was him or if it was Roxas.

"No, she was too much like you," Riku said back with a laugh. "She was my best friend though…"

The three of them looked up from their conversation to the massive mansion, and memories rushed the boys, almost all of them dreaded, some of them cherished. The daunting gate was closed with a huge lock, but Sora easily opened it with his keyblade. After the long walkway to the door, Sora and Riku had to shove the wood open, and the hinges cringed at their advances. The door didn't swing open as expected, and instead gave way to their combined strength. Nesting birds fluttered and tweeted at the surprise thud of their bodies hitting the tile.

The foyer of the mansion hadn't been exposed to light since Sora had last been there, and it showed. There was broken glass everywhere. The glass wall to the atrium had been broken to pieces, showing the dead plants and broken fountain on the other side. "Where's Naminé's room?" Kairi quickly asked Riku, something suddenly sparking her interest. Riku pointed to the left staircase, and she rushed up them and disappeared through the double doors.

"What do you have to get?" Sora questioned Riku, raising an eyebrow at his friend. Riku crossed the foyer to the door below Naminé's room, opening to reveal what was obviously his old bedroom. There was one window, but curtains covered it, making the room fairly dark. The walls were this bland gray color, but Riku decorated with pictures. Not any recognizable pictures, like the ones that decorated his room back home: pictures of his friends, posters of surfing, posters of models, the likes. All the pictures looked like they had been tore out of calendars and put all over the wall, and they were all science related. Sora didn't know Riku even liked science. His bed was a mess, which was a given, and it was a single bed. There was a closed closet and a bed side table with a lamp with no lamp shade. Notebooks were all over the floor, and Riku started picking them up and quickly reading them. "You like science?" Sora questioned at the pictures all over the wall.

"Not really, no, but they were in DiZ's old calendars. I tore them out and put them up because it was ugly," Riku returned as he threw a notebook on the floor after speed reading through all of its pages.

"What is all this stuff?" Sora asked as he picked up the thrown away notebook. There was Riku's handwriting, almost like diary entries. There was a date, but the contents under it were not diary-esque words. It was more a journal entry, saying what he accomplished that day, where he was, and what supplies he used. It was very old. Sometimes, there was a drawing of a Heartless, and a name Riku gave it. He wrote what its weaknesses were and how strong it was. Riku was actually a fairly good artist, but he didn't invest time into his talent.

"I have something like all this stuff," Sora said as he pulled out his handheld digital journal to show an uninterested Riku. It held all information he knew about worlds, and their citizens, and Heartless, and his enemies. He scanned Riku with it, and it read his journal entry:

"Riku, a seventeen year old boy from Destiny Islands. Riku is a keyblade master and uses Way to Dawn as his primary weapon. His strongest magik elements include Thunder and Gravity, but weapon-styled attacks are his strongest areas. Riku is left handed and uses a one hand wielding style. Riku is your ally."

"Turn that thing off," Riku said without even looking up from his journals.

"What are we doing here? Why are you reading all your stuff?" Sora asked impatiently as Riku threw another notebook on the ground.

"I forgot something and I need to remember," Riku returned as he picked up another to speed read.

"What did you forget? Maybe I can help you remember," Sora offered to his best friend.

"Can't tell you," Riku answered, and smiled at a page before Sora could say anything back. "Hey, remember this day? We were in the Land of Dragons, and we fought in the mountains. And Xigbar was there." Riku pointed to a picture of Xigbar's weapon, and Sora noticed the date and remembered too.

"I never asked you, but why did you fight me…?" Sora asked as he peered at the page. His eyes flashed to Riku's, but they quickly returned to the notebook.

"I didn't fight you, you fought me, in case you forgot," Riku reminded him.

"But you fought back…why didn't you just say it was you?" Sora asked again. "Why didn't you come with me?"

"It wasn't me, Sora. I didn't hurt you, did I? I just tried to defend myself after you kept coming at me. I saw the Heartless on the mountain and saw you by yourself and I knew you couldn't fight them all. I went up there to help, and you asked me who I was, and I didn't say anything. I didn't want you to see me like Xehanort," he explained as he briefly looked up at him. "But I wanted to see you, and hear your voice. Everything just seemed so unreal and fake and hearing you and seeing you reminded me that everything was real and that something mattered." Riku looked down at the notebook quickly as he realized that might have been a too emotional thing to say to his best friend, but Sora didn't care.

"Aww, Riku, how sweet," Sora responded with a light punch on his friend's shoulder. Riku finally turned to a page, and stopped speed reading as soon as he read the first words. He read the whole entry carefully, and caressed the page lovingly with his thumb. Sora tried to peer over to see what it was, and Riku quickly closed the notebook and gave him a glare.

"I remember, let's go," Riku said as he threw the notebook on the ground and shoved Sora through the doorway. He closed it behind him and the two of them turned to stare at Kairi who was holding at least fifteen artist's notebooks. She had tons of bracelets on her arms (more than normal), and had also adopted several new necklaces.

"What is all that stuff?" Sora asked as he took some of the notebooks from her.

"I don't know, it seemed important," Kairi responded. Sora began to open one of the notebooks and Kairi slammed her hand over the cover. "Stop, don't look at my…I mean Naminé's drawings!" She yelled as she snatched the books back from him.

"Everyone is being so secretive right now and it's pissing me off!" Sora yelled at the both of them, but no one could say anything else before they heard the familiar whooshing sound of a Heartless appearing in the center of the foyer. Sora quickly ran to it and disposed of it with one swipe. "Why is there a Heartless? I thought the computer said this world was clear."

"It was wrong," Kairi said nervously as Heartless rose from the floor all over the room. There were probably thousands of them, and they separated the space between Sora and the other two faster than one could snap their fingers. Sora jumped onto the ottoman in the middle of the room to have a 360 view of his enemies, and he started stabbing at them. They were all Shadows, so they weren't very strong, but it was just waves and waves of them.

Riku and Kairi were back to back swiping at Heartless, and Riku kept glancing over his shoulder to make sure Kairi was doing okay. His eyes snapped away from their own fight when he heard Sora yelp, and he felt a ball form in his throat when he saw a Shadow on Sora's back. Kairi beat Riku to his plan as she quickly ran for Sora with her blade first, but it was strange. The Heartless did not leap at Kairi, they practically moved out of her way. Riku followed behind her, but the Heartless did not ignore him. He fought his way through the crowd, but he almost quit rushing as soon as he saw Kairi jump onto the ottoman with Sora and rip the Shadow off his back. Riku reached them finally and noticed the bleeding claw marks through Sora's ripped jacket and shirt.

"What is going on?" Kairi asked as she stabbed into the crowd.

"I think there's a portal open somewhere," Riku said as he healed Sora with magik. His wounds turned from bleeding to scabbed to scarred to gone in just a few seconds with the green light that shown through Riku's hands.

"Why would a portal generate this much Heartless if it was just opened?" Sora asked as he sighed with relief at the cooling feeling of the cure spell.

Riku looked to the right staircase and saw how many Heartless there were in the foyer. He knew the three of them couldn't reach there without taking a lot of damage, the room was wall-to-wall Heartless. He kneeled down to open a portal on the ottoman and the three of them fell through. Heartless quickly poured through the portal and the three ran to the other opening, and fell through, landing face first on the floor of the mansion's basement.

In the corner of the room a massive Heartless faced the wall, where a dark portal was spiraling continuously. The creature spun as soon as it heard Riku's portal close, and he growled a fearsome growl. A Heartless' mouth is the most unpleasant place, and it is not very fun to look into it. The black, sticky Heartless spit clung to the creature's teeth as he opened them, and the three Keywielders were overwhelmed with the smell of death. The Heartless' eyes were a piercing yellow, and two twisting horns came down from his strong forehead. He roared in anger as he charged the three, and they all leapt at the creature blades first.

Its screech of pain sounded as all three weapons broke the black skin. Sora was flung against the wall with one swipe of the Heartless' paw, and Kairi gasped his name as his body thud against the wall. Riku was busy jumping on the Heartless' back since he was crouched down, and the creature did not appreciated Way to Dawn deep in his back. He started to jump widely around the tiny room, and Riku held on tight to his twisted horn. "Kairi, go for the belly!" Riku instructed the redhead who was still staring at the incapacitated Sora. She snapped her attention to the Heartless, and slid under his body as he jumped up again. He came down hard on her keyblade, and the Heartless screamed. He roared up on his hind legs, and fell on his back. His body disappeared in a bright burst of light, instead of the usual shadowy-ness.

Riku pushed himself up off the floor once the Heartless disappeared, and he stared at Kairi. "What did you do?" he questioned, never seeing a Heartless go out like that.

"Nothing, I just stabbed it…" She commented back, and then looked at Sora. He was rubbing the back of his head, and stood up with the help of his keyblade. "Are you okay, Sora?"

Sora gave her the thumbs up sign, and repeated Riku's question. Kairi sighed, repeating her answer. They all turned their attention to the whirling portal in the corner of the room, and Riku closed it without a second thought.

"That was Axel's portal," Sora commented knowingly.

"Well, thanks Axel, for not closing your portal," Riku said to no one in particular.

"What does not closing a portal do?" Kairi asked.

"Portals are a door for Heartless to come through. Just using one in a world with no Heartless would open a door for them to get in, even if you close it right away. Worlds that are high traffic for portal users usually have a shit ton of Heartless," Riku explained. "Leaving one open lets more and more Heartless come through. They are attracted to it."

Sora looked around bitterly at the tiny room, and then happily at his two best friends. He gestured to the stairs and they climbed cautiously back up to the foyer. It was void of all Heartless. Kairi's new found skill must have eradicated them by killing their boss. "Should we leave?" Sora asked Riku, and he shrugged. It seemed to him that all was okay in Twilight Town.

They decided to take a train back to the docks, since they had landed the gummi ship in the ocean. The ocean here was different compared to Destiny Island's. It had rocky beaches, and instead of the calm, warm, turquoise water they were used to, it held crashing, cold, grey waters. On that day, Twilight Town was exactly 68 degrees with clouds, when Destiny Islands probably had temperatures of 80 degrees plus.

The three of them all immediately looked to the familiar sounds of skateboard trucks hitting the pavement once they reached Tram Common. A single skater was skating the rails of a staircase, while his friend sat on the steps eating. They were immediately recognizable to the three, one with blonde, curly, crazy hair and the other with black spiky hair. Sora dashed over to them, and Pence looked up from his sub.

"Pence!" Sora exclaimed as he clasped the other boy's hand with his. Pence smiled through a mouthful of food. Hayner stopped at the top of the stairs, and snapped his fingers to remember Sora's name.

"Sora!" Pence exclaimed back as he swallowed his food, and Hayner jumped down the stairs to shake Sora's hand. Riku and Kairi walked up behind Sora, the redhead peeking out from behind her boyfriend's back. Sora introduced them, and they all shook hands. Sora reached out his hands for Hayner's skateboard, and with that, the afternoon was filled with Sora, Riku, and Hayner trying to show each other up.

Kairi sat and talked to Pence the whole time. She learned a lot. Olette was in fact Pence's sister. Hayner and Pence were both a year older than Olette and seniors in high school, just like Riku. Pence didn't like skateboarding, but Hayner could do it all day. When Kairi asked if Pence remembered Roxas, he gave her a strange look.

The sun was going down when another figure approached the group. Kairi screamed her girly "oh my gosh I haven't seen you in forever" scream when Olette was close enough to make out, and the two embraced tightly. Olette was dressed in a Starbucks uniform, and she asked her brother if he was ready to go home to get ready for the party.

"What party?" Riku asked, and Olette looked away from his eyes, as if she was too shy to make eye contact with him.

"Oh, our parents are gone down the coast to celebrate the festival. Me and Olette are throwing a party at our house," Pence explained. "You guys should come, it's gunna be a total rager."

"What?! You said like ten people were going to come," Olette said with a glare.

"Well, I lied," Pence said with a scoff.

The three of them had agreed a party would be fantastic. Olette said they could stay the night at her house, but it was more like a mansion. Pence and Olette's dad owned the biggest boating and fishing company in Twilight Town. Their mom was this huge defense lawyer, and their grandpa owned the professional blitzball team. Their house was huge. Sora could compare it to the King's castle, but it was not as grand and vast and did not contain fifteen billion guest rooms to have ball guest stay in. Their mansion had six bedrooms, all with their own bathroom, and then of course the master bedroom.

Riku and Sora had the privilege of getting the master bedroom to get ready. There was a balcony overlooking the outdoor heated pool and hot tub. The shower was huge; enough room to fit seven people in, and the bathtub was big enough for at least three.

"I hope Olette's mom is hot," Riku commented as he noticed the stripper pole in the middle of the room, and looked at the wedding picture on the dresser. "Mmm, maybe not," he said with a laugh as he put the picture down.

"Don't you have a stripper pole?" Sora asked with a smile at his friend.

"Yes, you could say that," Riku said back with a smirk as he sat down on the bed to take his shoes off.

"Have you used it?" Sora asked with a laugh.

"Me? No, that would be ridiculous," Riku laughed back. "Mari did though the day we bought it. It doesn't attach to anything though, you just kind of got to put it between an archway. So, she's dancing to a song, and me and Wakka and Milani are watching her, and then, she tries to like, jump up on it and do a twirl, whatever that's called, and she falls straight on her ass. It was hilarious."

Sora laughed at the image. "That's pretty weird, watching your…the girl you are having sex with dance with another couple," he commented. Milani was Wakka's on again off again girlfriend since his freshmen year. She was an islander, just like Wakka, and they had lost their virginity to each other. But Wakka had this flaw of doing crazy things when he drank, including hitting on girls right in front of Milani, and drunk texting girls for naked pictures, and waking up naked in pools not having any idea what happened the night before. His flaw caused many break ups, and they would date other people in between, but eventually get back together.

"Sora, Sora, Sora," Riku said back again. "You have no idea, because you are a virgin. You might think you get it, but you don't. Plus, Mari is a super slut, and she would get naked in a room full of probably thousands of people. Wakka and Milani were kind of just sitting in the background awkwardly."

After they got ready, the boys went downstairs. They helped Pence and Hayner get ready for the party. They had a keg, and Pence was going to be in charge of watching over it. They had some hard liquor too, and Riku snuck a bottle of Captain Morgan away when people started arriving. The party got started fairly quickly. Sora was standing on the balcony over the foyer with a beer in his hand, and he noticed at least one hundred people had walked through the door.

"Hey," a voice said to him as a hand tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to look, and it was this blonde girl with a busty shirt on and short shorts. "I've never seen you around here before, are you new?" She smiled at him. Yes, she was cute, but Sora knew someone a lot cuter, and that someone had yet to walk through Olette's door.

"Uh, yeah, I guess," He commented, looking back downstairs to appear uninterested.

"My name's Amber, what's yours?" she asked, but just as she did, Riku walked up the stairs and clapped his hand on Sora's back.

"Who's your friend, Sora?" the silverette said as he took a shot of his Captain. Sora had noticed Riku could handle his liquor a lot better than before they had left the island. Before, all four of the Destiny Islands boys had drank for their first times ever, and it was just beer, and they had maybe three each, but Sora was pretty sure they had all thrown up the next day and vowed to never drink again. Now, at every party Sora attended with Riku, he would get very, very drunk off hard liquor, never throw up, and still manage to not act like a total idiot.

"This is Amber. Amber, Riku, Riku, Amber," Sora said to his friend.

"Amber, you are drinkless, let's go make you a drink, huh?" Riku asked smoothly to the blonde, and she smiled and nodded. They climbed down the stairs, and Sora watched to make sure his best friend didn't face plant.

Sora turned around quickly when he heard the squeak of a door, and smiled when he saw her. She was dressed in a nice light blue blouse and white shorts, and she was encouraging Olette to follow her. Olette stepped out shyly, and she looked nice as well. She had a curled side ponytail, makeup on, and a nice outfit. Sora didn't really notice her though, just Kairi.

"Sora, doesn't Olette look nice?!" Kairi snapped him out of his trance. She had thrown her arm around Olette's neck, and Olette smiled sweetly up at Sora.

"Oh…yeah, you both look great," Sora assured both of them, catching Kairi's hint.

"Good, let's go get a drink," Kairi said to Olette, and they all three went downstairs. The kitchen was full of people, and Riku was still mixing a drink for Amber. Kairi told him to make two more for her and Olette, since he was making something a little less strong and little fruitier. After they all got their drinks, they went outside to sit on the benches. Kairi sat next to Sora and Riku set in between Amber and Olette.

"Olette, you look so pretty tonight! I've never seen you with make up on before," Amber said to Olette with a smile over Riku. The brunette returned a quiet thanks.

Riku, Olette, and Amber got into a conversation, mostly carried by Riku, and the party got too loud to yell across to the other benches.

"Is Olette shy?" Sora said into Kairi's ear.

"Oh my god, yes!" Kairi exclaimed back into his. "I had to beg her to let me do her make up, and for her to wear shorts. I was like, if you're going to drink, you're going to get hot, and you don't want to be drunk enough to start taking off your clothes."

"Does she like Riku? I noticed earlier in town she couldn't even look him in the eye," he observed.

"No, I mean, she thinks he's cute, but she's just shy," Kairi said back. "She has this huge crush on Hayner. But, she doesn't know how to tell him, and he is a player."

"What do you mean by player?" Sora asked.

"Like Riku," Kairi said with a laugh.

"You think Riku's a player?" Sora asked, this information being a surprise to him.

"Uh, yeah. He got a blowjob from the Rikku girl, and is probably going to bang that Amber chick tonight," Kairi said with a scoff. "If he's not a player, I don't know what is."

Sora laughed dryly. "If you ever saw Riku in action, you would notice that Riku doesn't try to have sex with these girls," he commented. "It's the girls that throw it at him, and of course he's going to take it."

"Why though?" Kairi asked, confused.

"Why do you think Kairi? Everyone thinks he's a stud," Sora said back with an obvious look on his face.

Kairi looked over at Riku, hitting on Amber, and talking to Olette, and drinking his Captain, and looked at Sora, sipping on his beer, and looking only at her. "I think you're a stud," she said back with a smile, and Sora returned it.

Their conversation changed, and the party kept going. People were getting drunker and drunker, and so were they. Riku would get up and get them new drinks every time theirs was empty. After they watched a boy push another girl in the pool, Kairi yelled into Sora's ears: "Come inside with me, I have to go to the bathroom!"

The trek to Olette's room was a dangerous one. They had to push through people, and Sora fell up the stairs on the way there. Kairi held his hand the whole time though, and that made drunk Sora very happy.

Once they got to Olette's room, Kairi quickly rushed off to the bathroom, leaving Sora alone in this foreign female's room. He looked at the pictures on her pegboard. A lot of them were of her and Pence and Hayner. The one of her bed was probably the best one, of her and Hayner dressed up as if for a school dance. They weren't wearing matching outfits though, like they went with other people. Sora thought about his room, and how many old pictures he had of him and his friends. And how his favorite one was of him, Riku, and Kairi on the first day Kairi learned to surf, and he couldn't remember how many times he had covered Riku up with his thumb just to see what he and Kairi looked like alone in their swimsuits.

Sora's phone beeped, and he pulled it out of his pocket. He peered at the bright text, and saw it was a Facebook notification. Upon opening, it read "Kairi Winter has requested to be in a relationship with you." Sora pressed approved without a second thought, and read the new status "Sora Irino is now in a relationship with Kairi Winter" about a million times. Selphie liked it almost immediately, and Sora knew she stalked Kairi's Facebook every day to see if they were in a relationship. She commented, 'OMG finally. (:'

Sora's thoughts were interrupted by Kairi coming through the bathroom door, and he smiled up at her. She had fixed her makeup, and she looked more beautiful than before, just because he had missed her in the five minutes she had left. "So we're Facebook official now," Sora said to her with a smile.

"Is that okay?" Kairi asked shyly as she plopped down next to him.

"Kairi, I want everyone in the whole entire universe to know you are mine," Sora said with a smile. "I wouldn't want anyone to steal you away." Sora's hands fell on her waist, but as Kairi leaned in to kiss him, Sora's fingers danced around her stomach and she squealed with laughter.

They fell into a tickle frenzy which ended up in them laying on Olette's bed, laughing breathlessly at each other. Before Sora could recover from the tickling sensation, Kairi smashed her lips into his, and he kissed her back. Their kiss escalated quickly, and their tongues dipped into each other's mouth. Kairi was drunk enough to not even think the beer that resided in Sora's mouth was gross, and Sora thought her fruity drink just added to her deliciousness.

In her drunk state of mind, Kairi grabbed Sora's hand and place it on her breast. Somewhere deep inside her, someone asked her to stop, but she told that someone to shut the fuck up. Sora began to kneed her breast gently, flicking where he thought her nipple was at. Kairi moaned quietly into his mouth, and Sora pulled away to look at her.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked her with half open eyes.

"You talk way too much," Kairi whispered to him, pulling him by his neck to her lips again. She pulled Sora on top of her, and led his hand into her shirt. Sora followed her instructions, and found her bra. He felt her breast over her bra, and the lacey texture intrigued him. He tugged it down, and finally touched her nipple with his hands. He twisted it gently between his fingers, causing Kairi to moan more into their kiss.

After a few minutes of making her moan by touching her nipples and kissing her lips and neck, Sora whispered in her ear. "I love to make you moan."

"Sora, please touch me," Kairi begged him, and Sora had to think a second about what she meant. He felt that nervous feeling in his throat, and his brain rushed with thoughts of 'Oh my gosh what if I suck and she hates me?' and 'Does she want to have sex with me?' But he was interrupted by Kairi's begging 'please' again, and his hand trailed down to her shorts. He slowly unbuttoned them, and pulled the short zipper down, and felt her body over her panties. They were lacey too, just like her bra.

Kairi squealed when Sora's fingers found her clit over her underwear, and Sora smiled in their kiss. He could feel the wetness on the outside of her underwear, and that made him even more excited. He slid his hand under her clothing, and felt the sweet skin of her pussy.

"You're so wet," Sora said to her as he dipped his fingers into her lips. He looked down on her to notice her face in pure bliss as he touched her. He moved his wet fingers to her clit, and rubbed it gently. She screamed his name, and Sora instinctively bucked his hips against hers. He pushed his finger inside her, and she moaned again. Her pussy practically clutched Sora's finger, she was so tight. It was like she was squeezing his finger with the whole strength of her hand, but wet and smooth. Sora felt the rough patch of skin inside her, and knew it was her g-spot. He pushed on it, making a come-hither motion with his hand, and Kairi squealed in pleasure. She began to thrust her hips against him, like she was riding his finger.

Sora began to rub her clit with his thumb, and Kairi continued to moan. She was no stranger to an orgasm. Being a sixteen year old girl, she had experimented with herself, and made herself orgasm several times late at night alone in her room. But this time was different. She was having a lot more fun and it felt soooooo much better. The pressure began to build up inside her as Sora petted her g-spot and clit at the same time, and she thrusted against his hand. She clutched at his shirt as she came, screaming his name and moaning. Her muscles clutched at Sora's finger, and he couldn't believe she could get any tighter, but she did. Once her body stopped shaking and she got quiet, Sora moved his hand from her pants to her back and embraced her. He fell down from the top of her to lie besides her and stare into her eyes, but they were still closed as she recovered.

When they opened to gaze into Sora's, she blushed immensely and closed them again. What had she just done? They had only been officially dating for a few days, and now he would expect her to do something for him, and she didn't think she was ready for that, but she didn't want to hurt his feelings. Was she being a slut, or a tease?

"Kairi, are you okay?" Sora asked with that concerned tone, and Kairi opened up her eyes to look at him. He looked rather sad, like he had done something wrong. "I'm sorry if that sucked for you…I've never done anything like that before. I don't know what you like…"

"Oh god, Sora, no!" she said suddenly. "You did fantastic! It's just…I don't know, if I'm ready…to have sex." She sat up on the edge of the bed, and Sora followed her. She buttoned up her pants and fixed her bra while Sora watched her. "I mean, we've only been dating for a few days. Maybe we shouldn't have done that, I don't want you to think I'm a slut."

"Kairi, I would never think you're a slut," Sora said with a confused look. "I thought you were okay with that. You like, put my hand in your shirt, and told me to touch you…"

"Because I like you!" Kairi said with a frustrated look. She put her head between her knees and clenched them with her hands. "I like you a lot Sora! I'm extremely attracted to you and I want to do so many things with you. I have dreams about you almost every night. Some of them are PG dreams, but some of them are totally X-rated and we do a lot worse stuff than what just happened. But I don't want to be a slut and just have sex with someone I've been dating for five days."

Sora had tried his hardest to listen to her muffled yelling, and he thought he got the gist of what she was saying. "Kairi, I totally understand what you are saying," Sora said. "I would have never fingered you if you didn't tell me to. But, you're not a slut. We've known each other since we were seven years old, and maybe we have officially been dating for five days or whatever, but I kissed you on my birthday almost a month ago, and we've hung out every day. I wanted you to come with me and Riku to fight Heartless and find Xehanort because I would have died without you. You are not being a slut by wanting to do sexual things with me."

Kairi looked up from her knee hold at him, and smiled. "You would have died?" she questioned.

"Not literally, but mentally. I would have been a sad panda," Sora said with a laugh.

They had a short laugh fit, and Kairi sat up to look at him. "Sora, I want to do so many new things with you, but I want to take it slow. I want it to be perfect," she said to him after she had placed a quick kiss on his lips. Sora agreed with her, and he kissed her a little more deeply.

Their kiss was interrupted by Riku and Amber stumbling through the door, and they both looked up at them. Amber rushed quickly to the bathroom, dropping Riku's hand in the process. He had closed the door behind them, and smiled at his friends sitting on the bed. He took a seat besides Sora, and smiled widely at him. "What are you guys doing in here? You left downstairs like an hour ago," Riku said, and Sora could smell the familiar smell of Captain on Riku's breath.

"Obviously you didn't think we were doing anything, or you would have knocked," Kairi said to him with a glare.

"Kairi, you know party rules. If you are boning, you put panties or socks on the door knob. There was nothing on the door knob, and I put my ear to the door, and you guys were just talking," Riku said with a sarcastic glare.

"Okay, we were just talking," Kairi said with a smile at him. "You're so drunk."

Riku pushed Sora into her. "Look at Sora he can't even sit up straight falling into you and shit." Sora pushed him back, and Riku fell all the way back onto Olette's bed. Riku pointed at the bathroom door, and laughed. "She wants to have sex with me," he said about Amber.

"How do you know that?" Sora asked with a peer.

"Because she told me so," Riku nodded with a smile. "You guys should leave, so we can do it in here." Riku was interrupted by a pillow to the face, and it was pulled back to reveal an angry Kairi.

"No! This is Olette's room. You are not going to have sex in our friend's bed. That is disgusting. How would you feel if someone you knew had sex in your bed? You would be so pissed," Kairi sneered at him. "There's like four guest bedrooms. Go to one of them."

Riku followed her instructions, and lead Amber out of the room. But not before they gave Sora and Kairi a show. Once Amber left the bathroom, she straddled Riku on Olette's bed and made out widely with him. She had begun to go for his pants, and Kairi told them to knock it off and go away. Amber said she thought they were having a four way, but Riku quickly corrected her and they left.

After they were gone, Kairi went to the bathroom and changed into her pajamas. She came back and looked at Olette's movie collection, and suggested that they should watch a movie. Sora and Kairi fell asleep watching _The Sandlot_, which had been one their favorite movies to watch together ever since they were little.


End file.
